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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. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  2. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  3. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  4. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  5. Have you found your soul ________________?
  6. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  9. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  10. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  11. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  12. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  13. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  14. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  15. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  16. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  17. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  18. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.

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

Answer key

  1. prune — to trim
  2. cap — a hat
  3. object — an aim
  4. mate — a friend
  5. mate — a partner
  6. cap — a lid
  7. cold — not warm
  8. prune — the fruit
  9. cold — an illness
  10. object — to protest
  11. prune — to trim
  12. cold — the Cold War
  13. track — a song
  14. cap — of ice
  15. track — to keep track
  16. object — a thing
  17. mate — to breed
  18. track — a path

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