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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.

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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 · field · prune · wind · spring · trunk · stick · pop

  1. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  2. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  3. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  4. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  5. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  6. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  7. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  8. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  9. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  10. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  11. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  12. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  13. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  14. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  15. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  16. We're almost out of ________________.
  17. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  18. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  19. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  20. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  21. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  22. You don't need to ________________ round.
  23. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  24. I've got the luggage in my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. perch — for a bird
  2. wind — moving air
  3. stick — a piece of wood
  4. pop — music
  5. perch — for a bird
  6. spring — of water
  7. field — farmland
  8. wind — moving air
  9. prune — to trim
  10. wind — to turn a key
  11. field — for sport
  12. prune — to trim
  13. stick — to attach or keep to
  14. trunk — of an elephant
  15. spring — a coil
  16. pop — soda
  17. spring — the season
  18. stick — a piece of wood
  19. trunk — of a tree
  20. prune — the fruit
  21. field — a subject
  22. pop — to visit
  23. perch — the fish
  24. trunk — of a car

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