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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 124 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: fan · press · kid · perch · rest · cold · wake · march

  1. The water is too ________________.
  2. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  3. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  4. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  5. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  6. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  7. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  8. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  9. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  10. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  11. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  12. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  13. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  14. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  15. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  16. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  17. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  18. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  19. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  20. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  21. Did you ________________ the button?
  22. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  23. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  24. I would like to have a ________________ here.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. rest — what's left
  3. wake — to stop sleeping
  4. kid — child
  5. press — newspapers
  6. fan — a supporter
  7. march — the month
  8. rest — what's left
  9. perch — for a bird
  10. wake — a trail
  11. march — the month
  12. perch — for a bird
  13. march — music
  14. cold — the Cold War
  15. fan — a supporter
  16. press — a publisher
  17. fan — to cool the air
  18. wake — before a funeral
  19. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  20. cold — an illness
  21. press — to push
  22. perch — the fish
  23. kid — to tease
  24. rest — a break

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com