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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: chest · fine · net · perch · bowl · face · wind · cold

  1. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  2. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  3. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  4. The water is too ________________.
  5. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  6. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  7. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  8. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  9. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  10. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  11. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  12. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  13. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  14. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  15. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  16. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  17. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  18. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  19. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  20. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  21. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  22. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  23. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  24. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.

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

Answer key

  1. face — to confront
  2. cold — an illness
  3. perch — the fish
  4. cold — not warm
  5. bowl — a football final
  6. chest — a box
  7. fine — a penalty
  8. net — for catching
  9. face — part of the head
  10. wind — to turn a key
  11. perch — for a bird
  12. wind — moving air
  13. bowl — to roll
  14. bowl — a dish
  15. chest — of your body
  16. perch — for a bird
  17. wind — moving air
  18. fine — high quality
  19. net — in sport
  20. fine — all right
  21. net — after costs
  22. cold — the Cold War
  23. chest — of your body
  24. face — to point toward

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