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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 116 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. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  2. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  3. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  4. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  5. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  6. Don't do anything ________________.
  7. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  8. He works in a ________________ mill.
  9. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  10. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  11. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  12. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  13. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  14. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  15. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  16. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  17. She's very handy with a ________________.
  18. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  19. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  20. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  21. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  22. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  23. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  24. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. staff — employees
  2. file — a line of people
  3. prune — the fruit
  4. staff — employees
  5. spring — a coil
  6. rash — hasty
  7. prune — to trim
  8. saw — the tool
  9. prune — to trim
  10. spring — the season
  11. file — a tool
  12. wave — with your hand
  13. spring — of water
  14. cap — a lid
  15. wave — a sudden rise
  16. rash — a series
  17. saw — the tool
  18. cap — a hat
  19. staff — a stick
  20. saw — past of 'see'
  21. cap — of ice
  22. rash — on the skin
  23. file — a document
  24. wave — of the sea

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