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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: perch · drill · rush · face · bowl · cell · chair · kid

  1. That must've been a ________________.
  2. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  3. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  4. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  5. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  6. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  7. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  8. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  9. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  10. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  11. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  12. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  13. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  14. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  15. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  16. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  17. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  18. He was locked up in a ________________.
  19. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  20. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  21. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  22. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  23. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  24. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.

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

Answer key

  1. rush — a thrill
  2. kid — to tease
  3. rush — to hurry
  4. chair — to sit on
  5. cell — in biology
  6. drill — a practice
  7. chair — a professorship
  8. chair — a leader
  9. perch — for a bird
  10. drill — the tool
  11. bowl — to roll
  12. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  13. rush — hurry
  14. face — part of the head
  15. cell — a phone
  16. face — to confront
  17. kid — child
  18. cell — in a prison
  19. drill — army training
  20. perch — for a bird
  21. face — to point toward
  22. bowl — a dish
  23. perch — the fish
  24. bowl — a football final

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