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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 120 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. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  3. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  4. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  5. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  6. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  7. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  8. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  9. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  10. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  11. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  12. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  13. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  14. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  15. Have you found your soul ________________?
  16. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  17. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  18. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  19. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  20. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  21. The water is too ________________.
  22. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  23. It's one o'clock ________________.
  24. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.

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

Answer key

  1. prune — the fruit
  2. fall — to drop
  3. prune — to trim
  4. cold — the Cold War
  5. fall — to drop
  6. fine — all right
  7. cold — an illness
  8. spring — of water
  9. spring — the season
  10. sharp — with an edge
  11. fall — the season
  12. prune — to trim
  13. kid — to tease
  14. fine — a penalty
  15. mate — a partner
  16. sharp — clever
  17. kid — child
  18. fine — high quality
  19. spring — a coil
  20. mate — a friend
  21. cold — not warm
  22. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  23. sharp — exactly
  24. mate — to breed

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