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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. Have you settled on a ________________?
  2. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  3. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  4. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  5. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  6. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  7. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  8. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  9. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  10. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  11. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  12. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  13. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  14. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  15. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  16. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  17. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  18. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  19. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  20. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  21. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  22. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  23. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  24. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.

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

Answer key

  1. date — on the calendar
  2. snap — to snap out of it
  3. prune — to trim
  4. bat — for baseball
  5. bat — in an idiom
  6. bark — of a tree
  7. bore — gave birth
  8. bat — the animal
  9. kick — in football
  10. date — on the calendar
  11. perch — the fish
  12. bore — to drill
  13. perch — for a bird
  14. snap — to click
  15. kick — with a leg
  16. bark — to shout
  17. prune — to trim
  18. bark — a dog's sound
  19. kick — a thrill
  20. bore — to tire
  21. snap — to speak sharply
  22. prune — the fruit
  23. perch — for a bird
  24. date — the fruit

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