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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. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  2. The water is too ________________.
  3. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  4. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  5. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  6. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  7. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  8. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  9. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  10. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  11. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  12. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  17. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  18. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  19. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  20. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  21. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  22. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  23. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  24. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. fine — all right
  2. cold — not warm
  3. prune — to trim
  4. perch — for a bird
  5. rock — music
  6. prune — the fruit
  7. rock — a stone
  8. deal — a big deal
  9. straw — a straw man
  10. deal — an agreement
  11. prune — to trim
  12. straw — to clutch at straws
  13. cold — an illness
  14. fine — high quality
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. straw — dry grass
  17. perch — the fish
  18. deal — to handle
  19. craft — a handicraft
  20. craft — boats
  21. craft — a skill
  22. fine — a penalty
  23. rock — to move gently
  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