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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: tube · prune · perch · cold · can · chair · spell · stock

  1. How do you ________________ your surname?
  2. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  3. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  4. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  5. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  6. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  7. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  8. The water is too ________________.
  9. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  10. I'll be taking the ________________.
  11. The ________________ market has crashed.
  12. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  13. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  14. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  15. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  16. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  17. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  18. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  19. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  20. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  21. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  22. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.

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

Answer key

  1. spell — letters
  2. chair — a professorship
  3. prune — to trim
  4. stock — goods
  5. chair — a leader
  6. can — a tin
  7. can — a tin
  8. cold — not warm
  9. perch — for a bird
  10. tube — the underground
  11. stock — shares
  12. tube — in a tire
  13. perch — the fish
  14. prune — to trim
  15. cold — an illness
  16. perch — for a bird
  17. spell — magic
  18. chair — to sit on
  19. prune — the fruit
  20. can — to be able to
  21. spell — a short time
  22. stock — a soup base
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. tube — a container

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