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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 120 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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468
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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 would like to have a ________________ here.
  2. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  3. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  4. The water is too ________________.
  5. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  6. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  7. He was locked up in a ________________.
  8. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  9. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  10. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  11. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  12. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  15. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  16. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  17. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  18. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  19. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  20. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  21. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  22. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  23. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  24. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.

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

Answer key

  1. rest — a break
  2. prune — to trim
  3. prune — to trim
  4. cold — not warm
  5. cell — in biology
  6. rest — what's left
  7. cell — in a prison
  8. foot — part of the body
  9. cold — the Cold War
  10. pitch — completely
  11. scale — in music
  12. root — the cause
  13. cold — an illness
  14. cell — a phone
  15. scale — for weighing
  16. prune — the fruit
  17. foot — a measure
  18. pitch — a sales talk
  19. scale — size or range
  20. root — of a plant
  21. rest — what's left
  22. root — of a word
  23. pitch — a sports field
  24. foot — the bottom

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