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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. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  2. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  3. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  4. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  5. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  6. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  7. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  8. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  9. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  10. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  11. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  12. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  13. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  14. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  15. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  16. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  17. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  18. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  19. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  20. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  21. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  22. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  23. How do you ________________ your surname?
  24. ________________ you help me carry this box?

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

Answer key

  1. bat — in an idiom
  2. bat — for baseball
  3. prune — to trim
  4. perch — the fish
  5. spring — a coil
  6. prune — to trim
  7. bass — low music
  8. perch — for a bird
  9. can — a tin
  10. bass — the instrument
  11. clip — to cut
  12. spell — a short time
  13. bass — the fish
  14. spell — magic
  15. perch — for a bird
  16. can — a tin
  17. clip — for paper
  18. bat — the animal
  19. clip — a video
  20. prune — the fruit
  21. spring — of water
  22. spring — the season
  23. spell — letters
  24. can — to be able to

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