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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.

Words on the sheet
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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: perch · prune · rush · bat · row · court · cell · band

  1. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  2. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  3. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  4. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  5. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  6. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  7. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  8. The ball is in your ________________.
  9. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  10. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  11. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  12. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  13. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  14. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  15. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  16. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  17. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  18. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  19. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  20. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  21. That must've been a ________________.
  22. He was locked up in a ________________.
  23. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  24. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.

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

Answer key

  1. perch — for a bird
  2. bat — in an idiom
  3. rush — to hurry
  4. court — of law
  5. prune — the fruit
  6. row — a line
  7. row — a quarrel
  8. court — for sport
  9. band — a rubber band
  10. bat — for baseball
  11. perch — the fish
  12. prune — to trim
  13. prune — to trim
  14. bat — the animal
  15. band — a ring
  16. band — a music group
  17. court — of a king
  18. perch — for a bird
  19. rush — hurry
  20. row — to paddle
  21. rush — a thrill
  22. cell — in a prison
  23. cell — a phone
  24. cell — in biology

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