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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. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  2. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  3. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  4. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  5. The water is too ________________.
  6. He is an ace ________________.
  7. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  8. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  9. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  10. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  11. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  12. He was locked up in a ________________.
  13. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  14. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  15. The ________________ took off on time.
  16. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  17. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  18. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  19. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  20. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  21. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  22. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  23. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  24. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.

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

Answer key

  1. prune — to trim
  2. prune — the fruit
  3. pitcher — a jug
  4. pitcher — a jug
  5. cold — not warm
  6. pitcher — in baseball
  7. plane — in geometry
  8. present — a gift
  9. straw — to clutch at straws
  10. plane — a tool
  11. cell — in biology
  12. cell — in a prison
  13. cell — a phone
  14. present — there
  15. plane — an aircraft
  16. straw — dry grass
  17. cold — the Cold War
  18. net — for catching
  19. prune — to trim
  20. net — after costs
  21. net — in sport
  22. straw — a straw man
  23. present — the time now
  24. cold — an illness

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