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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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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: mark · chair · cap · club · march · perch · prune · cold

  1. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  2. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  3. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  4. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  5. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  6. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  7. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  8. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  9. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  12. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  13. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  14. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  15. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  16. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  17. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  18. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  19. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  20. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  21. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  22. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  23. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  24. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.

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

Answer key

  1. mark — a trace
  2. cap — a lid
  3. chair — to sit on
  4. mark — a grade
  5. prune — the fruit
  6. prune — to trim
  7. club — for dancing
  8. cold — the Cold War
  9. perch — the fish
  10. cold — not warm
  11. mark — to pay attention
  12. march — the month
  13. march — music
  14. prune — to trim
  15. march — the month
  16. chair — a professorship
  17. chair — a leader
  18. perch — for a bird
  19. cold — an illness
  20. cap — of ice
  21. club — a group
  22. perch — for a bird
  23. club — for golf
  24. cap — a hat

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