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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. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  2. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  3. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  4. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  5. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  6. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  7. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  8. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  9. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  10. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  11. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  12. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  13. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  14. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  15. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  16. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  17. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  18. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  19. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  20. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  21. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  22. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  23. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  24. We took cover from the thunder ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. perch — for a bird
  2. board — a committee
  3. snap — to click
  4. snap — to speak sharply
  5. bat — for baseball
  6. scale — in music
  7. shower — to wash
  8. shower — a meteor shower
  9. stem — a stem cell
  10. perch — for a bird
  11. board — to get on
  12. bat — the animal
  13. prune — to trim
  14. prune — the fruit
  15. prune — to trim
  16. perch — the fish
  17. board — a flat piece
  18. stem — to come from
  19. scale — for weighing
  20. scale — size or range
  21. bat — in an idiom
  22. snap — to snap out of it
  23. stem — of a plant
  24. shower — rain

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