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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. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  2. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  3. How do you ________________ your surname?
  4. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  5. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  6. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  7. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  8. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  9. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  10. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  11. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  12. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  13. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  14. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  15. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  16. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  17. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  18. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  19. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  20. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  21. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  22. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  23. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  24. A ________________ is just a dried plum.

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

Answer key

  1. rest — what's left
  2. prune — to trim
  3. spell — letters
  4. hide — animal skin
  5. lash — an eyelash
  6. content — the amount
  7. straw — a straw man
  8. hide — to keep secret
  9. content — videos and posts
  10. straw — dry grass
  11. file — a tool
  12. file — a line of people
  13. lash — to lash out
  14. spell — magic
  15. lash — a whip stroke
  16. rest — a break
  17. prune — to trim
  18. rest — what's left
  19. hide — to keep secret
  20. content — happy
  21. spell — a short time
  22. file — a document
  23. straw — to clutch at straws
  24. prune — the fruit

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