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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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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: prune · rush · chair · degree · swing · perch · saw · kid

  1. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  2. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  3. That must've been a ________________.
  4. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  5. David sat on the ________________.
  6. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  7. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  8. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  9. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  10. He works in a ________________ mill.
  11. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  12. She's very handy with a ________________.
  13. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  14. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  15. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  16. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  17. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  18. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  19. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  20. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  21. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  22. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  23. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  24. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  2. rush — to hurry
  3. rush — a thrill
  4. degree — temperature
  5. swing — to play on
  6. chair — a leader
  7. prune — to trim
  8. prune — the fruit
  9. kid — to tease
  10. saw — the tool
  11. perch — the fish
  12. saw — the tool
  13. swing — in golf
  14. chair — to sit on
  15. perch — for a bird
  16. degree — from a university
  17. prune — to trim
  18. rush — hurry
  19. swing — music
  20. kid — child
  21. chair — a professorship
  22. degree — an amount
  23. saw — past of 'see'
  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