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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. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  2. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  3. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  4. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  5. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  6. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  7. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  8. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  9. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  12. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  13. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  14. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  15. He was locked up in a ________________.
  16. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  17. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  18. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  19. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  20. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  21. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  22. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  23. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  24. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.

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

Answer key

  1. row — a quarrel
  2. kick — a thrill
  3. staff — employees
  4. prune — to trim
  5. kick — with a leg
  6. cell — in biology
  7. row — to paddle
  8. staff — employees
  9. staff — a stick
  10. cold — not warm
  11. track — a path
  12. cold — the Cold War
  13. bear — the animal
  14. prune — to trim
  15. cell — in a prison
  16. cell — a phone
  17. track — a song
  18. track — to keep track
  19. prune — the fruit
  20. bear — to put up with
  21. cold — an illness
  22. bear — the animal
  23. row — a line
  24. kick — in football

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