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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. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  2. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  3. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  4. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  5. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  6. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  7. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  8. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  9. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  10. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  11. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  12. The water is too ________________.
  13. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  14. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  15. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  16. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  17. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  18. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  19. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  20. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  21. Have you found your soul ________________?
  22. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  23. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  24. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.

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

Answer key

  1. mate — to breed
  2. bowl — a dish
  3. bowl — a football final
  4. fall — to drop
  5. bowl — to roll
  6. fall — the season
  7. fall — to drop
  8. perch — for a bird
  9. trunk — of an elephant
  10. prune — to trim
  11. cold — the Cold War
  12. cold — not warm
  13. perch — for a bird
  14. content — the amount
  15. mate — a friend
  16. trunk — of a car
  17. content — videos and posts
  18. content — happy
  19. trunk — of a tree
  20. cold — an illness
  21. mate — a partner
  22. perch — the fish
  23. prune — the fruit
  24. prune — to trim

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