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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 in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  2. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  3. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  4. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  5. The water is too ________________.
  6. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  7. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  8. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  9. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  10. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  11. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  12. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  13. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  14. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  15. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  16. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  17. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  18. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. prune — the fruit
  2. straw — dry grass
  3. snap — to click
  4. fall — to drop
  5. cold — not warm
  6. stick — to attach or keep to
  7. cold — the Cold War
  8. snap — to speak sharply
  9. fall — the season
  10. snap — to snap out of it
  11. prune — to trim
  12. straw — a straw man
  13. stick — a piece of wood
  14. stick — a piece of wood
  15. fall — to drop
  16. prune — to trim
  17. cold — an illness
  18. straw — to clutch at straws

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