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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. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  3. I'll be taking the ________________.
  4. When are we going to ________________?
  5. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  6. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  7. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  8. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  9. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  10. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  11. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  12. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  13. I can't ________________ this cold.
  14. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  15. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  16. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  17. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  18. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  19. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  20. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  21. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  22. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  23. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  24. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.

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

Answer key

  1. prune — to trim
  2. land — a country
  3. tube — the underground
  4. land — to come down
  5. bowl — a dish
  6. bowl — to roll
  7. perch — for a bird
  8. scale — size or range
  9. perch — for a bird
  10. prune — the fruit
  11. net — in sport
  12. net — for catching
  13. stand — to bear
  14. scale — in music
  15. net — after costs
  16. tube — a container
  17. land — ground
  18. prune — to trim
  19. stand — for spectators
  20. scale — for weighing
  21. stand — on your feet
  22. perch — the fish
  23. tube — in a tire
  24. bowl — a football final

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