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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 from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: last · prune · perch · bowl · tear · saw · toast · spring

  1. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  2. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  3. She's very handy with a ________________.
  4. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  5. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  6. False peace will not ________________.
  7. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  8. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  9. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  10. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  11. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  12. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  13. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  14. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  15. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  16. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  17. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  18. He works in a ________________ mill.
  19. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  20. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  21. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  22. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  23. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  24. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — a football final
  2. spring — of water
  3. saw — the tool
  4. toast — bread
  5. toast — the most admired
  6. last — to go on
  7. tear — from crying
  8. perch — the fish
  9. toast — a drink to someone
  10. prune — the fruit
  11. tear — to rip
  12. prune — to trim
  13. bowl — a dish
  14. last — final
  15. spring — a coil
  16. last — finally
  17. spring — the season
  18. saw — the tool
  19. saw — past of 'see'
  20. tear — from crying
  21. perch — for a bird
  22. bowl — to roll
  23. prune — to trim
  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