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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. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  3. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  4. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  5. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  6. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  7. I'll be taking the ________________.
  8. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  9. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  10. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  11. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  12. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  13. The water is too ________________.
  14. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. Don't do anything ________________.
  18. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  19. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  20. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  21. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  22. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  23. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  24. Check the label for the sugar ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. prune — to trim
  2. prune — to trim
  3. kick — with a leg
  4. kick — in football
  5. content — happy
  6. content — videos and posts
  7. tube — the underground
  8. pound — a weight
  9. pound — for dogs
  10. perch — for a bird
  11. perch — the fish
  12. perch — for a bird
  13. cold — not warm
  14. prune — the fruit
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. cold — an illness
  17. rash — hasty
  18. rash — a series
  19. kick — a thrill
  20. rash — on the skin
  21. tube — in a tire
  22. pound — to hit hard
  23. tube — a container
  24. content — the amount

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