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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. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  2. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  3. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  4. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  5. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  6. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  7. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  8. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  9. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  10. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  11. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  12. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  13. It's one o'clock ________________.
  14. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  15. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  16. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  17. He was locked up in a ________________.
  18. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  19. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  20. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  21. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  22. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  23. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  24. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.

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

Answer key

  1. cell — a phone
  2. prune — to trim
  3. wave — a sudden rise
  4. sharp — with an edge
  5. track — a song
  6. shower — rain
  7. march — the month
  8. prune — the fruit
  9. cell — in biology
  10. track — to keep track
  11. prune — to trim
  12. track — a path
  13. sharp — exactly
  14. march — the month
  15. shower — to wash
  16. wave — of the sea
  17. cell — in a prison
  18. march — music
  19. branch — of a tree
  20. shower — a meteor shower
  21. branch — a division
  22. sharp — clever
  23. branch — of a bank
  24. wave — with your hand

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