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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 120 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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Word bank
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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: land · wound · net · lean · perch · temple · tear · cabinet

  1. When are we going to ________________?
  2. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  3. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  4. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  5. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  6. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  7. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  8. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  9. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  10. What do you think of the new ________________?
  11. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  12. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  13. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  14. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  15. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  16. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  17. When was this ________________ built?
  18. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  19. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  20. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  21. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  22. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  23. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  24. He took the fish out of the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. land — to come down
  2. temple — side of the head
  3. temple — a place of worship
  4. net — in sport
  5. tear — from crying
  6. land — a country
  7. perch — the fish
  8. tear — to rip
  9. wound — an injury
  10. cabinet — ministers
  11. land — ground
  12. lean — to bend
  13. lean — thin
  14. perch — for a bird
  15. net — after costs
  16. cabinet — a cupboard
  17. temple — a place of worship
  18. wound — an injury
  19. wound — past of 'wind'
  20. lean — to rest against
  21. tear — from crying
  22. perch — for a bird
  23. cabinet — ministers
  24. net — for catching

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