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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. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  2. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  3. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  4. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  5. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  6. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  7. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  8. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  9. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  10. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  11. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  12. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  13. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  14. I can't ________________ this cold.
  15. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  16. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  17. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  18. The water is too ________________.
  19. Have you found your soul ________________?
  20. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  21. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  22. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  23. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  24. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — the Cold War
  2. chest — of your body
  3. shower — rain
  4. prune — the fruit
  5. prune — to trim
  6. degree — an amount
  7. stand — for spectators
  8. chest — of your body
  9. shower — a meteor shower
  10. shower — to wash
  11. rock — to move gently
  12. rock — music
  13. rock — a stone
  14. stand — to bear
  15. stand — on your feet
  16. degree — from a university
  17. degree — temperature
  18. cold — not warm
  19. mate — a partner
  20. mate — a friend
  21. cold — an illness
  22. mate — to breed
  23. chest — a box
  24. prune — to trim

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