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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. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  3. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  4. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  5. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  6. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  7. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  8. I can't ________________ this cold.
  9. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  10. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  11. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  12. How do you ________________ your surname?
  13. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  14. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  15. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  16. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  17. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  18. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  19. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  20. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  21. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  22. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  23. The water is too ________________.
  24. Can you turn the ________________ on?

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

Answer key

  1. prune — to trim
  2. club — for dancing
  3. spell — a short time
  4. spring — a coil
  5. stand — for spectators
  6. stand — on your feet
  7. prune — the fruit
  8. stand — to bear
  9. club — for golf
  10. fan — a supporter
  11. bowl — to roll
  12. spell — letters
  13. bowl — a football final
  14. cold — the Cold War
  15. fan — a supporter
  16. bowl — a dish
  17. spell — magic
  18. spring — the season
  19. cold — an illness
  20. prune — to trim
  21. club — a group
  22. spring — of water
  23. cold — not warm
  24. fan — to cool the air

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