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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. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  3. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  4. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  5. Have you found your soul ________________?
  6. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  7. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  8. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  9. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  10. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  11. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  12. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  13. He was locked up in a ________________.
  14. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  15. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  16. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  17. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  18. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  19. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  20. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  21. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  22. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  23. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  24. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. prune — the fruit
  2. squash — the vegetable
  3. chest — a box
  4. squash — to crush
  5. mate — a partner
  6. band — a music group
  7. cell — a phone
  8. mate — a friend
  9. straw — a straw man
  10. band — a rubber band
  11. chest — of your body
  12. chest — of your body
  13. cell — in a prison
  14. march — music
  15. march — the month
  16. squash — the sport
  17. cell — in biology
  18. prune — to trim
  19. mate — to breed
  20. march — the month
  21. prune — to trim
  22. band — a ring
  23. straw — dry grass
  24. straw — to clutch at straws

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