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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 116 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: perch · press · wound · prune · pitcher · chair · tear · kick

  1. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  2. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  3. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  4. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  5. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  6. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  7. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  8. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  9. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  10. Did you ________________ the button?
  11. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  12. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  13. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  14. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  15. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  16. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  17. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  18. He is an ace ________________.
  19. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  20. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  21. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  22. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  23. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  24. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.

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

Answer key

  1. perch — for a bird
  2. kick — in football
  3. tear — from crying
  4. tear — from crying
  5. chair — to sit on
  6. chair — a professorship
  7. tear — to rip
  8. pitcher — a jug
  9. chair — a leader
  10. press — to push
  11. perch — for a bird
  12. pitcher — a jug
  13. wound — an injury
  14. kick — a thrill
  15. prune — to trim
  16. kick — with a leg
  17. prune — the fruit
  18. pitcher — in baseball
  19. press — a publisher
  20. wound — past of 'wind'
  21. perch — the fish
  22. prune — to trim
  23. wound — an injury
  24. press — newspapers

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