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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. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  2. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  3. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  4. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  5. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  6. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  7. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  8. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  9. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  10. When are we going to ________________?
  11. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  12. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  13. It's one o'clock ________________.
  14. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  15. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  16. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  17. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  18. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  19. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  20. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  21. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  22. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  23. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  24. He was locked up in a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. staff — a stick
  2. wind — moving air
  3. prune — to trim
  4. shower — to wash
  5. perch — for a bird
  6. perch — the fish
  7. cell — a phone
  8. shower — a meteor shower
  9. shower — rain
  10. land — to come down
  11. prune — to trim
  12. wind — moving air
  13. sharp — exactly
  14. sharp — with an edge
  15. staff — employees
  16. land — a country
  17. sharp — clever
  18. land — ground
  19. perch — for a bird
  20. cell — in biology
  21. wind — to turn a key
  22. staff — employees
  23. prune — the fruit
  24. cell — in a prison

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