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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 116 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. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  2. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  3. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  4. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  5. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  6. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  7. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  8. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  9. There's no middle ________________.
  10. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  11. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  12. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  13. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  14. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  15. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  16. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  17. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  18. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  19. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  20. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  21. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  22. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  23. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  24. The elephant has a huge ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — an explosive
  2. perch — for a bird
  3. prune — the fruit
  4. trunk — of a tree
  5. ground — the earth
  6. present — there
  7. present — the time now
  8. perch — the fish
  9. ground — a position
  10. shower — a meteor shower
  11. shower — rain
  12. ground — crushed
  13. mine — for digging
  14. cap — of ice
  15. cap — a hat
  16. cap — a lid
  17. trunk — of a car
  18. mine — belonging to me
  19. present — a gift
  20. prune — to trim
  21. perch — for a bird
  22. shower — to wash
  23. prune — to trim
  24. trunk — of an elephant

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