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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: chair · kick · last · perch · cold · face · suit · season

  1. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  2. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  3. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  4. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  5. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  6. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  7. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  8. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  9. Did you ________________ the meat?
  10. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  11. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  12. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  13. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  14. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  15. When will it ________________ you to start?
  16. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  17. False peace will not ________________.
  18. The water is too ________________.
  19. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  20. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  21. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  22. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  23. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  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. chair — to sit on
  2. last — finally
  3. last — final
  4. season — in sport
  5. perch — for a bird
  6. kick — in football
  7. kick — a thrill
  8. cold — an illness
  9. season — to add flavour
  10. season — of the year
  11. perch — the fish
  12. chair — a leader
  13. perch — for a bird
  14. face — to point toward
  15. suit — to fit
  16. suit — clothes
  17. last — to go on
  18. cold — not warm
  19. cold — the Cold War
  20. face — part of the head
  21. suit — in cards
  22. kick — with a leg
  23. chair — a professorship
  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