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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 116 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: cell · rest · perch · content · prune · key · ground · cold

  1. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  2. There's no middle ________________.
  3. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  4. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  5. This piece is in a major ________________.
  6. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  7. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  8. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  9. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  10. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  11. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  12. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  13. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  14. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  15. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  16. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  17. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  18. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  19. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  20. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  21. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  22. He was locked up in a ________________.
  23. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  24. The water is too ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. prune — to trim
  2. ground — a position
  3. cell — a phone
  4. perch — for a bird
  5. key — in music
  6. rest — what's left
  7. key — the most important part
  8. key — for a lock
  9. content — the amount
  10. content — videos and posts
  11. prune — to trim
  12. content — happy
  13. cell — in biology
  14. cold — an illness
  15. perch — for a bird
  16. rest — a break
  17. ground — the earth
  18. rest — what's left
  19. ground — crushed
  20. cold — the Cold War
  21. prune — the fruit
  22. cell — in a prison
  23. perch — the fish
  24. cold — not warm

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