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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. We're almost out of ________________.
  2. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  3. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  4. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  5. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  6. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  7. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  8. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  9. He was locked up in a ________________.
  10. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  11. You don't need to ________________ round.
  12. We're on a ________________ here.
  13. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  14. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  15. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  16. Don't do anything ________________.
  17. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  18. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  19. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  20. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  21. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  22. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  23. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  24. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.

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

Answer key

  1. pop — soda
  2. club — a group
  3. pop — music
  4. file — a line of people
  5. prune — the fruit
  6. jam — in traffic
  7. roll — a cake
  8. prune — to trim
  9. cell — in a prison
  10. rash — on the skin
  11. pop — to visit
  12. roll — on a roll
  13. cell — a phone
  14. club — for golf
  15. jam — a tight spot
  16. rash — hasty
  17. roll — a list
  18. jam — to spread on bread
  19. prune — to trim
  20. cell — in biology
  21. file — a tool
  22. rash — a series
  23. club — for dancing
  24. file — a document

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