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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. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  2. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  3. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  4. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  5. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  6. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  7. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  8. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  9. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  10. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  11. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  12. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  13. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  14. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  15. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  16. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  17. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  18. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  19. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  20. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  21. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  22. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  23. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  24. The elephant has a huge ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. craft — boats
  2. chair — a leader
  3. prune — to trim
  4. wind — to turn a key
  5. chair — to sit on
  6. trunk — of a car
  7. scale — for weighing
  8. perch — the fish
  9. prune — to trim
  10. mine — belonging to me
  11. prune — the fruit
  12. perch — for a bird
  13. perch — for a bird
  14. chair — a professorship
  15. scale — in music
  16. mine — an explosive
  17. trunk — of a tree
  18. wind — moving air
  19. craft — a handicraft
  20. wind — moving air
  21. mine — for digging
  22. craft — a skill
  23. scale — size or range
  24. trunk — of an elephant

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