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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. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  2. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  3. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  4. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  5. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  6. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  7. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  8. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  9. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  10. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  11. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  12. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  13. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  14. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  15. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  16. Have you met the new head ________________?
  17. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  18. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  19. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  20. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  21. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  22. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  23. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  24. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — to wash
  2. perch — for a bird
  3. lean — thin
  4. coach — pulled by horses
  5. march — music
  6. prune — the fruit
  7. lean — to rest against
  8. lean — to bend
  9. march — the month
  10. perch — the fish
  11. patient — a sick person
  12. tear — to rip
  13. shower — rain
  14. prune — to trim
  15. march — the month
  16. coach — a trainer
  17. tear — from crying
  18. coach — a trainer
  19. perch — for a bird
  20. shower — a meteor shower
  21. prune — to trim
  22. tear — from crying
  23. patient — a sick person
  24. patient — calm and waiting

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