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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: rest · stem · cold · craft · perch · fan · prune · cell

  1. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  2. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  3. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  4. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  5. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  6. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  7. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  8. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  9. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  10. He was locked up in a ________________.
  11. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  12. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  13. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  14. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  15. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  16. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  17. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  18. The water is too ________________.
  19. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  20. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  21. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  22. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  23. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  24. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.

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

Answer key

  1. perch — for a bird
  2. perch — for a bird
  3. craft — boats
  4. cell — a phone
  5. fan — a supporter
  6. stem — a stem cell
  7. fan — a supporter
  8. prune — the fruit
  9. rest — what's left
  10. cell — in a prison
  11. prune — to trim
  12. stem — to come from
  13. stem — of a plant
  14. craft — a handicraft
  15. fan — to cool the air
  16. prune — to trim
  17. cold — an illness
  18. cold — not warm
  19. rest — what's left
  20. rest — a break
  21. cell — in biology
  22. craft — a skill
  23. perch — the fish
  24. cold — the Cold War

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