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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. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  2. Have you met the new head ________________?
  3. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  4. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  5. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  6. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  7. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  8. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  9. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  10. There's no middle ________________.
  11. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  12. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  13. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  14. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  15. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  16. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  17. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  18. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  19. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  20. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  21. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  22. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  23. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  24. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. prune — to trim
  2. coach — a trainer
  3. straw — dry grass
  4. perch — the fish
  5. coach — a trainer
  6. rule — a law
  7. prune — the fruit
  8. rule — to rule out
  9. straw — to clutch at straws
  10. ground — a position
  11. ground — the earth
  12. spring — the season
  13. coach — pulled by horses
  14. content — videos and posts
  15. content — the amount
  16. perch — for a bird
  17. spring — a coil
  18. prune — to trim
  19. spring — of water
  20. ground — crushed
  21. rule — government
  22. perch — for a bird
  23. straw — a straw man
  24. content — happy

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