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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. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  2. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  3. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  4. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  5. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  6. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  7. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  8. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  9. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  10. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  11. I've got to change the light ________________.
  12. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  13. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  14. The light ________________ burned out.
  15. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  16. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  17. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  18. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  19. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  20. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  21. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  22. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  23. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  24. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.

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

Answer key

  1. prune — to trim
  2. perch — for a bird
  3. bulb — of a plant
  4. perch — the fish
  5. stem — to come from
  6. prune — to trim
  7. bat — for baseball
  8. mine — belonging to me
  9. perch — for a bird
  10. mine — an explosive
  11. bulb — for light
  12. bat — the animal
  13. clip — for paper
  14. bulb — for light
  15. prune — the fruit
  16. stem — of a plant
  17. clip — a video
  18. bear — the animal
  19. bat — in an idiom
  20. bear — the animal
  21. mine — for digging
  22. bear — to put up with
  23. clip — to cut
  24. stem — a stem cell

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