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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 owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  2. I'll be taking the ________________.
  3. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  4. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  5. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  6. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  7. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  8. The ball is in your ________________.
  9. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  10. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  11. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  12. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  13. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  14. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  15. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  16. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  17. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  18. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  19. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  20. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  21. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  22. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  23. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  24. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.

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

Answer key

  1. perch — for a bird
  2. tube — the underground
  3. file — a line of people
  4. rule — a law
  5. perch — for a bird
  6. wind — moving air
  7. wind — moving air
  8. court — for sport
  9. perch — the fish
  10. rule — government
  11. wind — to turn a key
  12. craft — boats
  13. file — a document
  14. craft — a handicraft
  15. court — of law
  16. tube — a container
  17. prune — to trim
  18. prune — to trim
  19. court — of a king
  20. file — a tool
  21. prune — the fruit
  22. rule — to rule out
  23. craft — a skill
  24. tube — in a tire

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