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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. The ball is in your ________________.
  2. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  3. Don't do anything ________________.
  4. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  5. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  6. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  7. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  8. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  9. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  10. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  11. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  12. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  13. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  14. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  15. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  16. That must've been a ________________.
  17. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  18. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  19. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  20. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  21. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  22. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  23. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  24. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. court — for sport
  2. prune — the fruit
  3. rash — hasty
  4. court — of law
  5. prune — to trim
  6. chair — a leader
  7. branch — of a tree
  8. perch — for a bird
  9. chair — to sit on
  10. perch — the fish
  11. prune — to trim
  12. bore — to tire
  13. branch — a division
  14. rush — to hurry
  15. chair — a professorship
  16. rush — a thrill
  17. rush — hurry
  18. rash — on the skin
  19. branch — of a bank
  20. rash — a series
  21. bore — gave birth
  22. bore — to drill
  23. court — of a king
  24. perch — for a bird

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