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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 120 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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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 · rule · chair · prune · hand · cell · safe · spring

  1. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  2. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  3. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  4. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  5. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  6. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  7. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  8. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  9. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  10. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  11. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  12. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  13. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  14. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  15. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  16. He was locked up in a ________________.
  17. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  18. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  19. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  20. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  21. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  22. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  23. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  24. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — part of the body
  2. prune — to trim
  3. cell — a phone
  4. safe — out of danger
  5. prune — to trim
  6. safe — out of danger
  7. rule — government
  8. hand — in cards
  9. safe — a strongbox
  10. rule — a law
  11. perch — the fish
  12. perch — for a bird
  13. cell — in biology
  14. chair — a leader
  15. spring — the season
  16. cell — in a prison
  17. perch — for a bird
  18. chair — a professorship
  19. hand — help
  20. spring — a coil
  21. spring — of water
  22. chair — to sit on
  23. prune — the fruit
  24. rule — to rule out

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