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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 116 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. The water is too ________________.
  2. She's very handy with a ________________.
  3. He works in a ________________ mill.
  4. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  5. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  6. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  7. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  8. What do you think of the new ________________?
  9. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  10. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  11. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  12. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  13. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  14. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  15. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  16. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  17. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  18. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  19. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  20. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  21. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  22. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  23. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  24. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. saw — the tool
  3. saw — the tool
  4. current — happening now
  5. lean — thin
  6. prune — to trim
  7. cold — an illness
  8. cabinet — ministers
  9. lean — to bend
  10. spring — the season
  11. trunk — of a tree
  12. cold — the Cold War
  13. lean — to rest against
  14. trunk — of an elephant
  15. current — electric
  16. cabinet — ministers
  17. saw — past of 'see'
  18. cabinet — a cupboard
  19. current — of water
  20. spring — of water
  21. trunk — of a car
  22. prune — the fruit
  23. prune — to trim
  24. spring — a coil

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