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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. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  2. The ________________ took off on time.
  3. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  4. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  5. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  6. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  7. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  8. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  9. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  10. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  11. It's one o'clock ________________.
  12. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  13. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  14. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  15. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  16. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  17. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  18. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  19. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  20. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  21. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  22. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  23. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  24. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — to sit on
  2. plane — an aircraft
  3. perch — for a bird
  4. field — for sport
  5. field — a subject
  6. band — a rubber band
  7. perch — for a bird
  8. prune — to trim
  9. prune — the fruit
  10. prune — to trim
  11. sharp — exactly
  12. bass — the fish
  13. band — a music group
  14. plane — a tool
  15. band — a ring
  16. plane — in geometry
  17. sharp — clever
  18. chair — a leader
  19. field — farmland
  20. chair — a professorship
  21. sharp — with an edge
  22. bass — low music
  23. bass — the instrument
  24. perch — the fish

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