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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. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  2. We're almost out of ________________.
  3. The King held a masked ________________.
  4. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  5. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  6. You don't need to ________________ round.
  7. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  8. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  9. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  10. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  11. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  12. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  13. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  14. Have you found your soul ________________?
  15. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  16. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  17. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  18. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  19. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  20. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  21. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  22. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  23. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  24. False peace will not ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. prune — to trim
  2. pop — soda
  3. ball — a dance
  4. mate — a friend
  5. ball — a great time
  6. pop — to visit
  7. straw — to clutch at straws
  8. straw — a straw man
  9. hide — animal skin
  10. perch — for a bird
  11. last — final
  12. pop — music
  13. ball — a round shape
  14. mate — a partner
  15. perch — for a bird
  16. mate — to breed
  17. prune — the fruit
  18. prune — to trim
  19. last — finally
  20. hide — to keep secret
  21. straw — dry grass
  22. perch — the fish
  23. hide — to keep secret
  24. last — to go on

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