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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. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  2. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  3. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  4. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  5. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  6. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  7. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  8. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  9. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  10. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  11. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  12. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  13. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  14. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  15. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  16. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  17. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  18. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  19. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  20. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  21. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  22. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  23. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  24. Should I buy a wireless ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. rule — government
  2. prune — to trim
  3. patient — calm and waiting
  4. patient — a sick person
  5. patient — a sick person
  6. perch — for a bird
  7. rule — a law
  8. rule — to rule out
  9. mouse — the animal
  10. prune — to trim
  11. straw — to clutch at straws
  12. wake — a trail
  13. prune — the fruit
  14. perch — the fish
  15. wake — to stop sleeping
  16. straw — a straw man
  17. straw — dry grass
  18. mouse — the animal
  19. field — farmland
  20. field — for sport
  21. field — a subject
  22. perch — for a bird
  23. wake — before a funeral
  24. mouse — for a computer

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