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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 fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  2. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  3. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  4. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  5. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  6. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  7. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  8. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  9. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  10. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  11. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  12. The ________________ took off on time.
  13. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  14. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  15. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  16. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  17. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  18. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  19. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  20. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  21. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  22. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  23. The water is too ________________.
  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. bass — the fish
  2. can — a tin
  3. plane — in geometry
  4. chest — of your body
  5. chest — a box
  6. perch — for a bird
  7. cold — an illness
  8. cold — the Cold War
  9. prune — to trim
  10. bass — the instrument
  11. prune — to trim
  12. plane — an aircraft
  13. bass — low music
  14. stem — a stem cell
  15. chest — of your body
  16. stem — to come from
  17. stem — of a plant
  18. perch — the fish
  19. can — to be able to
  20. can — a tin
  21. plane — a tool
  22. prune — the fruit
  23. cold — not warm
  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