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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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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: field · cold · press · season · snap · perch · bark · charge

  1. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  2. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  3. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  4. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  5. The water is too ________________.
  6. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  7. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  8. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  9. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  10. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  11. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  12. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  13. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  14. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  15. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  16. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  17. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  18. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  19. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  20. Did you ________________ the meat?
  21. Did you ________________ the button?
  22. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  23. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  24. The tickets are free of ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. perch — the fish
  2. snap — to speak sharply
  3. bark — a dog's sound
  4. perch — for a bird
  5. cold — not warm
  6. cold — the Cold War
  7. bark — to shout
  8. field — for sport
  9. perch — for a bird
  10. field — farmland
  11. press — a publisher
  12. charge — electricity
  13. season — of the year
  14. season — in sport
  15. bark — of a tree
  16. snap — to click
  17. field — a subject
  18. snap — to snap out of it
  19. cold — an illness
  20. season — to add flavour
  21. press — to push
  22. press — newspapers
  23. charge — in control
  24. charge — a price

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