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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. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  2. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  3. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  4. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  5. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  6. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  7. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  8. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  9. I'll be taking the ________________.
  10. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  11. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  12. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  13. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  14. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  15. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  16. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  17. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  18. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  19. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  20. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  21. How do you ________________ your surname?
  22. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  23. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  24. Do you need a ________________ with that?

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

Answer key

  1. tube — a container
  2. prune — to trim
  3. hand — part of the body
  4. spell — magic
  5. hand — in cards
  6. prune — to trim
  7. bass — low music
  8. perch — for a bird
  9. tube — the underground
  10. bass — the fish
  11. bear — the animal
  12. trunk — of a tree
  13. perch — for a bird
  14. bear — to put up with
  15. bear — the animal
  16. spell — a short time
  17. prune — the fruit
  18. trunk — of a car
  19. bass — the instrument
  20. tube — in a tire
  21. spell — letters
  22. perch — the fish
  23. trunk — of an elephant
  24. hand — help

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