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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 116 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. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  2. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  3. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  4. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  5. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  6. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  7. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  8. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  9. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  10. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  11. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  12. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  13. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  14. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  15. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  16. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  17. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  18. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  19. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  20. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  21. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  22. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  23. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  24. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.

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

Answer key

  1. wake — before a funeral
  2. shower — to wash
  3. row — a quarrel
  4. prune — to trim
  5. net — in sport
  6. patient — a sick person
  7. perch — for a bird
  8. net — after costs
  9. prune — the fruit
  10. snap — to speak sharply
  11. perch — for a bird
  12. wake — a trail
  13. wake — to stop sleeping
  14. net — for catching
  15. shower — a meteor shower
  16. row — to paddle
  17. patient — calm and waiting
  18. perch — the fish
  19. snap — to click
  20. snap — to snap out of it
  21. patient — a sick person
  22. shower — rain
  23. prune — to trim
  24. row — a line

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