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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: court · wind · leaves · prune · charge · shower · perch · degree

  1. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  2. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  3. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  4. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  5. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  6. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  7. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  8. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  9. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  10. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  11. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  12. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  13. The ball is in your ________________.
  14. The tickets are free of ________________.
  15. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  16. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  17. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  18. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  19. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  20. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  21. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  22. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  23. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  24. A ________________ is just a dried plum.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — rain
  2. prune — to trim
  3. perch — the fish
  4. wind — to turn a key
  5. prune — to trim
  6. degree — an amount
  7. degree — from a university
  8. charge — electricity
  9. wind — moving air
  10. leaves — lets stay
  11. degree — temperature
  12. wind — moving air
  13. court — for sport
  14. charge — a price
  15. court — of law
  16. perch — for a bird
  17. leaves — of a tree
  18. charge — in control
  19. court — of a king
  20. shower — to wash
  21. leaves — to go away
  22. shower — a meteor shower
  23. perch — for a bird
  24. prune — the fruit

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