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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 cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  2. We're on a ________________ here.
  3. That was a fun ________________.
  4. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  5. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  6. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  7. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  8. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  9. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  10. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  11. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  12. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  13. He is an ace ________________.
  14. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  15. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  16. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  17. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  18. How do you ________________ your surname?
  19. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  20. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  21. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  22. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  23. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  24. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. prune — to trim
  2. roll — on a roll
  3. game — a match
  4. calf — of the leg
  5. roll — a list
  6. bear — to put up with
  7. pitcher — a jug
  8. bear — the animal
  9. shower — to wash
  10. game — wild animals
  11. bear — the animal
  12. pitcher — a jug
  13. pitcher — in baseball
  14. spell — a short time
  15. roll — a cake
  16. calf — a young animal
  17. game — a kind of play
  18. spell — letters
  19. spell — magic
  20. prune — to trim
  21. calf — a young animal
  22. prune — the fruit
  23. shower — rain
  24. shower — a meteor shower

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