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

  1. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  2. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  3. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  4. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  5. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  6. Did you ________________ the meat?
  7. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  8. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  9. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  10. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  11. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  12. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  13. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  14. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  15. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  16. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  17. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  18. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  19. David sat on the ________________.
  20. When are we going to ________________?
  21. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  22. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  23. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  24. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to speak sharply
  2. perch — for a bird
  3. prune — to trim
  4. prune — the fruit
  5. band — a music group
  6. season — to add flavour
  7. swing — in golf
  8. band — a ring
  9. land — ground
  10. swing — music
  11. season — in sport
  12. bore — to drill
  13. bore — to tire
  14. band — a rubber band
  15. perch — for a bird
  16. prune — to trim
  17. bore — gave birth
  18. land — a country
  19. swing — to play on
  20. land — to come down
  21. season — of the year
  22. snap — to click
  23. perch — the fish
  24. snap — to snap out of it

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