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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 120 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. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  2. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  3. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  4. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  5. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  6. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  7. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  8. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  9. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  10. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  11. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  12. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  13. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  14. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  15. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  16. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  17. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  18. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  19. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  20. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  21. Don't do anything ________________.
  22. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  23. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  24. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — a coil
  2. file — a tool
  3. perch — the fish
  4. mark — a grade
  5. hand — help
  6. rash — on the skin
  7. net — in sport
  8. perch — for a bird
  9. spring — the season
  10. prune — the fruit
  11. net — for catching
  12. spring — of water
  13. prune — to trim
  14. file — a document
  15. hand — in cards
  16. perch — for a bird
  17. net — after costs
  18. mark — a trace
  19. hand — part of the body
  20. prune — to trim
  21. rash — hasty
  22. rash — a series
  23. file — a line of people
  24. mark — to pay attention

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