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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. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  2. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  3. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  4. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  5. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  6. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  7. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  8. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  9. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  10. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  11. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  12. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  13. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  14. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  15. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  16. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  17. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  18. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  19. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  20. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  21. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  22. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  23. False peace will not ________________.
  24. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.

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

Answer key

  1. prune — the fruit
  2. foot — the bottom
  3. bat — the animal
  4. prune — to trim
  5. chest — of your body
  6. spring — a coil
  7. chest — a box
  8. wax — in the ear
  9. foot — a measure
  10. wax — to grow
  11. prune — to trim
  12. perch — the fish
  13. perch — for a bird
  14. bat — in an idiom
  15. perch — for a bird
  16. chest — of your body
  17. foot — part of the body
  18. last — final
  19. spring — of water
  20. bat — for baseball
  21. last — finally
  22. spring — the season
  23. last — to go on
  24. wax — for sculpting

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