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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: cold · swing · mug · club · perch · face · tear · hide

  1. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  2. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  3. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  4. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  5. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  6. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  9. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  10. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  11. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  12. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  13. Where did you ________________ them?
  14. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. David sat on the ________________.
  18. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  19. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  20. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  21. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  22. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  23. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  24. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — from crying
  2. face — part of the head
  3. face — to point toward
  4. club — for golf
  5. hide — animal skin
  6. club — a group
  7. cold — not warm
  8. perch — the fish
  9. swing — music
  10. tear — from crying
  11. perch — for a bird
  12. hide — to keep secret
  13. mug — to rob
  14. tear — to rip
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. cold — an illness
  17. swing — to play on
  18. perch — for a bird
  19. mug — a cup
  20. mug — a face
  21. swing — in golf
  22. hide — to keep secret
  23. club — for dancing
  24. face — to confront

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