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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. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  4. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  5. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  6. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  7. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  8. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  9. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  10. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  11. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  12. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  13. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  14. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  15. That was a fun ________________.
  16. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  17. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  18. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  19. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  20. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  21. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  22. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  23. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  24. She got the top ________________ in the exam.

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. fan — a supporter
  4. game — wild animals
  5. mark — to pay attention
  6. mark — a trace
  7. perch — for a bird
  8. prune — to trim
  9. bark — of a tree
  10. bark — to shout
  11. shower — rain
  12. perch — the fish
  13. bark — a dog's sound
  14. prune — the fruit
  15. game — a match
  16. perch — for a bird
  17. shower — to wash
  18. fan — to cool the air
  19. shower — a meteor shower
  20. snap — to speak sharply
  21. game — a kind of play
  22. snap — to click
  23. snap — to snap out of it
  24. mark — a grade

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