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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. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  2. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  3. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  4. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  5. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  6. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  7. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  8. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  9. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  10. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  11. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  12. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  13. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  14. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  15. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  16. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  17. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  18. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  19. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  20. He was locked up in a ________________.
  21. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  22. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  23. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  24. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.

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

Answer key

  1. row — a line
  2. fall — to drop
  3. prune — to trim
  4. cell — in biology
  5. march — the month
  6. row — to paddle
  7. net — after costs
  8. march — the month
  9. content — videos and posts
  10. net — for catching
  11. march — music
  12. net — in sport
  13. row — a quarrel
  14. rule — to rule out
  15. prune — the fruit
  16. fall — the season
  17. cell — a phone
  18. prune — to trim
  19. content — the amount
  20. cell — in a prison
  21. rule — government
  22. rule — a law
  23. content — happy
  24. fall — to drop

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