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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 120 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. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  2. There's no middle ________________.
  3. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  4. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  5. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  6. How do you ________________ your surname?
  7. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  8. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  9. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  10. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  11. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  12. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  13. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  14. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  15. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  16. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  17. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  18. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  19. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  20. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  21. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  22. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  23. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  24. Biology is a ________________ of science.

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

Answer key

  1. straw — a straw man
  2. ground — a position
  3. perch — the fish
  4. perch — for a bird
  5. kick — in football
  6. spell — letters
  7. branch — of a tree
  8. spell — magic
  9. kick — a thrill
  10. kick — with a leg
  11. branch — of a bank
  12. perch — for a bird
  13. straw — dry grass
  14. squash — the vegetable
  15. prune — to trim
  16. spell — a short time
  17. squash — to crush
  18. ground — the earth
  19. prune — the fruit
  20. straw — to clutch at straws
  21. ground — crushed
  22. squash — the sport
  23. prune — to trim
  24. branch — a division

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