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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 120 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 · bore · chair · cap · stem · wind · trunk · cold

  1. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  2. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  3. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  4. The water is too ________________.
  5. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  6. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  7. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  8. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  9. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  10. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  11. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  12. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  13. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  14. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  15. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  16. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  17. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  18. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  19. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  20. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  21. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  22. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?

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

Answer key

  1. perch — for a bird
  2. cap — a lid
  3. wind — moving air
  4. cold — not warm
  5. stem — of a plant
  6. wind — moving air
  7. perch — the fish
  8. bore — gave birth
  9. trunk — of a tree
  10. chair — a leader
  11. cap — of ice
  12. stem — to come from
  13. chair — to sit on
  14. trunk — of a car
  15. trunk — of an elephant
  16. chair — a professorship
  17. cap — a hat
  18. stem — a stem cell
  19. perch — for a bird
  20. cold — an illness
  21. wind — to turn a key
  22. bore — to drill
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. bore — to tire

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