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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.

Words on the sheet
468
Word bank
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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: perch · cold · last · rash · fine · date · trunk · bore

  1. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  2. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  5. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  6. The water is too ________________.
  7. Don't do anything ________________.
  8. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  9. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  10. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  11. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  12. False peace will not ________________.
  13. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  14. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  15. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  16. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  17. Have you settled on a ________________?
  18. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  19. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  20. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  21. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  22. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  23. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  24. The elephant has a huge ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. trunk — of a car
  2. perch — for a bird
  3. cold — an illness
  4. bore — to tire
  5. last — final
  6. cold — not warm
  7. rash — hasty
  8. perch — for a bird
  9. fine — all right
  10. cold — the Cold War
  11. rash — on the skin
  12. last — to go on
  13. fine — a penalty
  14. trunk — of a tree
  15. bore — to drill
  16. date — on the calendar
  17. date — on the calendar
  18. rash — a series
  19. fine — high quality
  20. bore — gave birth
  21. perch — the fish
  22. date — the fruit
  23. last — finally
  24. trunk — of an elephant

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