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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. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  2. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  3. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  4. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  5. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  6. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  7. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  8. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  9. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  10. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  11. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  12. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  13. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  14. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  15. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  16. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  17. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  18. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  19. False peace will not ________________.
  20. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  21. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  22. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  23. The ball is in your ________________.
  24. I've got the luggage in my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. prune — the fruit
  2. last — final
  3. hand — in cards
  4. wind — moving air
  5. prune — to trim
  6. court — of a king
  7. perch — the fish
  8. chip — to eat
  9. chip — for betting
  10. trunk — of a tree
  11. perch — for a bird
  12. trunk — of an elephant
  13. wind — moving air
  14. chip — in a computer
  15. hand — help
  16. wind — to turn a key
  17. last — finally
  18. court — of law
  19. last — to go on
  20. perch — for a bird
  21. hand — part of the body
  22. prune — to trim
  23. court — for sport
  24. trunk — of a car

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