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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. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  2. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  3. The water is too ________________.
  4. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  5. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  6. We're almost out of ________________.
  7. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  8. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  9. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  10. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  11. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  12. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  15. That was a fun ________________.
  16. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  17. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  18. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  19. You don't need to ________________ round.
  20. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  21. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  22. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  23. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  24. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.

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

Answer key

  1. prune — the fruit
  2. lash — to lash out
  3. cold — not warm
  4. face — to point toward
  5. prune — to trim
  6. pop — soda
  7. hand — part of the body
  8. cold — the Cold War
  9. game — wild animals
  10. game — a kind of play
  11. face — part of the head
  12. pop — music
  13. cold — an illness
  14. lash — a whip stroke
  15. game — a match
  16. prune — to trim
  17. lash — an eyelash
  18. hand — in cards
  19. pop — to visit
  20. can — a tin
  21. can — to be able to
  22. face — to confront
  23. hand — help
  24. can — a tin

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