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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. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  2. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  3. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  4. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  5. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  6. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  7. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  8. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  9. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  10. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  11. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  12. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  13. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  14. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  15. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  16. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  17. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  18. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  19. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  20. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  21. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  22. The ball is in your ________________.
  23. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  24. Can you turn the ________________ on?

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

Answer key

  1. prune — to trim
  2. fan — a supporter
  3. degree — an amount
  4. hand — part of the body
  5. net — for catching
  6. perch — for a bird
  7. net — after costs
  8. degree — temperature
  9. patient — calm and waiting
  10. perch — for a bird
  11. patient — a sick person
  12. court — of a king
  13. prune — the fruit
  14. degree — from a university
  15. court — of law
  16. patient — a sick person
  17. fan — a supporter
  18. perch — the fish
  19. net — in sport
  20. prune — to trim
  21. hand — help
  22. court — for sport
  23. hand — in cards
  24. fan — to cool the air

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