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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 · straw · march · bore · bat · content · fall · prune

  1. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  2. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  3. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  4. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  5. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  6. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  7. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  8. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  9. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  10. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  11. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  12. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  13. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  14. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  15. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  16. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  17. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  18. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  19. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  20. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  21. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  22. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  23. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  24. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.

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

Answer key

  1. bore — gave birth
  2. perch — for a bird
  3. prune — to trim
  4. prune — the fruit
  5. straw — a straw man
  6. bat — for baseball
  7. fall — to drop
  8. bat — in an idiom
  9. content — happy
  10. march — the month
  11. content — the amount
  12. fall — the season
  13. straw — dry grass
  14. perch — for a bird
  15. straw — to clutch at straws
  16. perch — the fish
  17. bore — to tire
  18. march — the month
  19. bat — the animal
  20. march — music
  21. content — videos and posts
  22. fall — to drop
  23. prune — to trim
  24. bore — to drill

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