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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 you need a ________________ with that?
  2. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  3. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  4. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  5. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  6. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  7. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  8. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  9. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  10. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  11. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  12. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  13. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  14. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  15. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  16. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  17. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  18. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  19. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  20. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  21. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  22. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  23. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  24. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — help
  2. squash — the vegetable
  3. squash — the sport
  4. prune — the fruit
  5. perch — for a bird
  6. branch — of a tree
  7. hand — part of the body
  8. prune — to trim
  9. branch — of a bank
  10. squash — to crush
  11. mine — belonging to me
  12. drill — army training
  13. prune — to trim
  14. mine — for digging
  15. drill — the tool
  16. mine — an explosive
  17. firm — decided
  18. perch — the fish
  19. firm — steady
  20. firm — a company
  21. drill — a practice
  22. hand — in cards
  23. branch — a division
  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