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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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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: court · rush · drill · tear · sharp · deal · perch · prune

  1. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  2. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  3. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  4. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  5. It's one o'clock ________________.
  6. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  7. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  8. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  9. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  10. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  11. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  12. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  13. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  14. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  15. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  16. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  17. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  18. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  19. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  20. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  21. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  22. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  23. The ball is in your ________________.
  24. That must've been a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. perch — for a bird
  2. sharp — clever
  3. deal — an agreement
  4. prune — to trim
  5. sharp — exactly
  6. perch — for a bird
  7. rush — to hurry
  8. tear — from crying
  9. drill — army training
  10. sharp — with an edge
  11. court — of a king
  12. prune — to trim
  13. perch — the fish
  14. deal — to handle
  15. court — of law
  16. prune — the fruit
  17. tear — from crying
  18. drill — a practice
  19. tear — to rip
  20. rush — hurry
  21. drill — the tool
  22. deal — a big deal
  23. court — for sport
  24. rush — a thrill

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