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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: foot · cap · perch · shower · present · cold · kid · land

  1. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  2. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. The water is too ________________.
  5. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  6. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  7. When are we going to ________________?
  8. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  9. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  10. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  11. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  12. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  13. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  14. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  15. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  16. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  17. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  18. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  19. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  20. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  21. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  22. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  23. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  24. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  2. perch — for a bird
  3. cold — an illness
  4. cold — not warm
  5. cold — the Cold War
  6. shower — rain
  7. land — to come down
  8. foot — a measure
  9. cap — a lid
  10. foot — part of the body
  11. foot — the bottom
  12. kid — child
  13. land — ground
  14. perch — the fish
  15. shower — to wash
  16. present — a gift
  17. land — a country
  18. cap — a hat
  19. present — there
  20. cap — of ice
  21. shower — a meteor shower
  22. kid — to tease
  23. present — the time now
  24. perch — for a bird

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