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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. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  2. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  3. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  4. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  5. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  6. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  7. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  8. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  9. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  10. We're almost out of ________________.
  11. You don't need to ________________ round.
  12. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  13. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  14. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  15. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  16. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  17. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  18. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  19. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  20. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  21. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  22. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  23. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  24. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.

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

Answer key

  1. lean — to bend
  2. wind — moving air
  3. net — after costs
  4. calf — of the leg
  5. trunk — of a tree
  6. perch — for a bird
  7. trunk — of an elephant
  8. pop — music
  9. wind — moving air
  10. pop — soda
  11. pop — to visit
  12. trunk — of a car
  13. wind — to turn a key
  14. lean — thin
  15. perch — for a bird
  16. lean — to rest against
  17. net — in sport
  18. net — for catching
  19. prune — the fruit
  20. prune — to trim
  21. calf — a young animal
  22. perch — the fish
  23. calf — a young animal
  24. prune — to trim

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