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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. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  3. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  4. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  5. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  6. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  7. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  8. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  9. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  12. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  13. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  14. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  15. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  18. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  19. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  20. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  21. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  22. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  23. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  24. I'll be taking the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. prune — to trim
  2. snap — to click
  3. cold — the Cold War
  4. tear — from crying
  5. vault — a safe
  6. snap — to snap out of it
  7. rest — what's left
  8. rest — a break
  9. tear — to rip
  10. cold — not warm
  11. tear — from crying
  12. tube — in a tire
  13. pitch — a sales talk
  14. vault — in gymnastics
  15. pitch — a sports field
  16. cold — an illness
  17. rest — what's left
  18. tube — a container
  19. pitch — completely
  20. prune — the fruit
  21. prune — to trim
  22. snap — to speak sharply
  23. vault — an arched ceiling
  24. tube — the underground

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