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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. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  2. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  3. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  4. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  5. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  6. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  9. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  10. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  11. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  12. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  13. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  14. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  15. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  16. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  17. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  18. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  19. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  20. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  21. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  22. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  23. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  24. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.

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

Answer key

  1. prune — the fruit
  2. cold — the Cold War
  3. craft — a handicraft
  4. bat — for baseball
  5. craft — a skill
  6. bank — for money
  7. cold — not warm
  8. straw — dry grass
  9. straw — a straw man
  10. bank — for money
  11. snap — to speak sharply
  12. snap — to click
  13. straw — to clutch at straws
  14. content — the amount
  15. bat — in an idiom
  16. bat — the animal
  17. content — happy
  18. prune — to trim
  19. prune — to trim
  20. snap — to snap out of it
  21. bank — of a river
  22. cold — an illness
  23. content — videos and posts
  24. craft — boats

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