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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. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  3. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  4. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  5. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  6. False peace will not ________________.
  7. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  8. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  9. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  10. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  11. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  12. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  13. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  14. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  15. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  16. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  17. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  18. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  19. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  20. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  21. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  22. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  23. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  24. Check the label for the sugar ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. prune — to trim
  2. content — happy
  3. trunk — of an elephant
  4. prune — the fruit
  5. mark — a grade
  6. last — to go on
  7. last — final
  8. perch — for a bird
  9. trunk — of a car
  10. mark — a trace
  11. perch — the fish
  12. content — videos and posts
  13. trunk — of a tree
  14. kick — with a leg
  15. mark — to pay attention
  16. race — a contest
  17. kick — a thrill
  18. race — humankind
  19. kick — in football
  20. perch — for a bird
  21. race — the arms race
  22. prune — to trim
  23. last — finally
  24. content — the amount

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