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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 116 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 water is too ________________.
  2. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  3. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  4. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  5. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  6. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  7. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  8. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  9. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  10. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  11. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  12. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  13. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  14. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  15. I'll be taking the ________________.
  16. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  17. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  18. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  19. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  20. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  21. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  22. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  23. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  24. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. club — for dancing
  3. club — for golf
  4. mouse — for a computer
  5. lean — to rest against
  6. prune — to trim
  7. field — for sport
  8. field — farmland
  9. mouse — the animal
  10. mouse — the animal
  11. prune — to trim
  12. cold — the Cold War
  13. lean — thin
  14. tube — a container
  15. tube — the underground
  16. club — a group
  17. hide — animal skin
  18. cold — an illness
  19. prune — the fruit
  20. hide — to keep secret
  21. hide — to keep secret
  22. field — a subject
  23. tube — in a tire
  24. lean — to bend

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