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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. Where did you ________________ them?
  2. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  3. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  4. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  5. The water is too ________________.
  6. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  7. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  8. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  9. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  10. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  11. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  12. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  13. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  14. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  15. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  16. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  17. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  18. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  19. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  20. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  21. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  22. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  23. Have you settled on a ________________?
  24. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.

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

Answer key

  1. mug — to rob
  2. chest — a box
  3. chest — of your body
  4. cap — of ice
  5. cold — not warm
  6. prune — to trim
  7. date — the fruit
  8. cold — an illness
  9. chest — of your body
  10. cold — the Cold War
  11. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  12. cap — a lid
  13. cap — a hat
  14. kid — child
  15. wound — an injury
  16. wound — an injury
  17. mug — a face
  18. date — on the calendar
  19. wound — past of 'wind'
  20. prune — the fruit
  21. mug — a cup
  22. kid — to tease
  23. date — on the calendar
  24. prune — to trim

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