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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 · tear · bark · wind · face · content · snap · charge

  1. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  2. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  3. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  4. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  5. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  6. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  7. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  8. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  9. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  10. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  11. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  12. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  13. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  14. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  15. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  16. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  17. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  18. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  19. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  20. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  21. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  22. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  23. The tickets are free of ________________.
  24. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. perch — for a bird
  2. snap — to click
  3. face — to confront
  4. content — videos and posts
  5. face — to point toward
  6. wind — to turn a key
  7. bark — a dog's sound
  8. face — part of the head
  9. bark — to shout
  10. wind — moving air
  11. tear — from crying
  12. snap — to speak sharply
  13. snap — to snap out of it
  14. wind — moving air
  15. tear — from crying
  16. charge — in control
  17. content — the amount
  18. content — happy
  19. charge — electricity
  20. perch — for a bird
  21. tear — to rip
  22. perch — the fish
  23. charge — a price
  24. bark — of a tree

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