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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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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. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  2. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  3. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  4. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  5. Have you settled on a ________________?
  6. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  7. Where did you ________________ them?
  8. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  9. The water is too ________________.
  10. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  11. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  12. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  13. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  14. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  15. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  16. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  17. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  18. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to speak sharply
  2. mug — a face
  3. prune — the fruit
  4. snap — to click
  5. date — on the calendar
  6. snap — to snap out of it
  7. mug — to rob
  8. date — the fruit
  9. cold — not warm
  10. date — on the calendar
  11. prune — to trim
  12. rest — what's left
  13. prune — to trim
  14. cold — the Cold War
  15. rest — what's left
  16. rest — a break
  17. mug — a cup
  18. cold — an illness

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