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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 in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  2. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  3. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  4. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  5. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  6. How do you ________________ your surname?
  7. When was this ________________ built?
  8. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  9. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  10. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  11. Have you met the new head ________________?
  12. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  13. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  14. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  15. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  16. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  17. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  18. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  19. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  20. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  21. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  22. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  23. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  24. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.

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

Answer key

  1. coach — pulled by horses
  2. perch — for a bird
  3. present — a gift
  4. bat — the animal
  5. coach — a trainer
  6. spell — letters
  7. temple — a place of worship
  8. prune — to trim
  9. prune — to trim
  10. spell — a short time
  11. coach — a trainer
  12. spell — magic
  13. present — there
  14. temple — a place of worship
  15. present — the time now
  16. temple — side of the head
  17. chest — a box
  18. perch — for a bird
  19. prune — the fruit
  20. bat — in an idiom
  21. bat — for baseball
  22. chest — of your body
  23. chest — of your body
  24. perch — the fish

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