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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: face · chest · perch · row · fork · shower · pop · rest

  1. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  2. You don't need to ________________ round.
  3. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  4. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  5. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  6. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  7. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  8. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  9. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  10. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  11. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  12. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  13. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  14. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  15. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  16. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  17. We're almost out of ________________.
  18. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  19. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  20. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  21. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  22. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  23. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  24. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — of your body
  2. pop — to visit
  3. face — part of the head
  4. shower — a meteor shower
  5. perch — for a bird
  6. shower — to wash
  7. face — to confront
  8. chest — a box
  9. fork — to eat with
  10. row — a line
  11. face — to point toward
  12. chest — of your body
  13. row — a quarrel
  14. pop — music
  15. perch — the fish
  16. rest — what's left
  17. pop — soda
  18. fork — in a road
  19. perch — for a bird
  20. fork — a garden tool
  21. rest — what's left
  22. rest — a break
  23. shower — rain
  24. row — to paddle

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