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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 124 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. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  2. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  3. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  4. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  5. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  6. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  7. It's one o'clock ________________.
  8. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  9. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  10. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  11. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  12. When are we going to ________________?
  13. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  14. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  15. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  16. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  17. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  18. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  19. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  20. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  21. The water is too ________________.
  22. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  23. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  24. Check the label for the sugar ________________.

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. stick — a piece of wood
  4. pound — for dogs
  5. prune — to trim
  6. vault — an arched ceiling
  7. sharp — exactly
  8. content — happy
  9. vault — in gymnastics
  10. cold — the Cold War
  11. land — ground
  12. land — to come down
  13. pound — to hit hard
  14. sharp — clever
  15. sharp — with an edge
  16. stick — a piece of wood
  17. pound — a weight
  18. vault — a safe
  19. cold — an illness
  20. land — a country
  21. cold — not warm
  22. stick — to attach or keep to
  23. content — videos and posts
  24. content — the amount

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