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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. False peace will not ________________.
  3. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  4. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  5. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  6. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  7. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  8. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  9. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  10. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  11. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  12. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  13. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  14. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  15. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  16. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  17. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  18. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  19. Have you settled on a ________________?
  20. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  21. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  22. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  23. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  24. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.

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

Answer key

  1. prune — to trim
  2. last — to go on
  3. firm — steady
  4. last — final
  5. date — on the calendar
  6. perch — for a bird
  7. snap — to click
  8. prune — the fruit
  9. firm — decided
  10. prune — to trim
  11. shower — to wash
  12. lash — an eyelash
  13. lash — a whip stroke
  14. shower — a meteor shower
  15. snap — to snap out of it
  16. date — the fruit
  17. perch — the fish
  18. shower — rain
  19. date — on the calendar
  20. firm — a company
  21. perch — for a bird
  22. lash — to lash out
  23. last — finally
  24. snap — to speak sharply

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