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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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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 didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  2. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  3. He was locked up in a ________________.
  4. David sat on the ________________.
  5. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  6. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  7. Have you met the new head ________________?
  8. We're almost out of ________________.
  9. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  10. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  11. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  12. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  13. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  14. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  15. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  16. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  17. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  18. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  19. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  20. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  21. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  22. You don't need to ________________ round.
  23. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  24. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.

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

Answer key

  1. wake — to stop sleeping
  2. coach — pulled by horses
  3. cell — in a prison
  4. swing — to play on
  5. pop — music
  6. rest — what's left
  7. coach — a trainer
  8. pop — soda
  9. tear — from crying
  10. wake — before a funeral
  11. swing — in golf
  12. prune — the fruit
  13. rest — what's left
  14. wake — a trail
  15. swing — music
  16. coach — a trainer
  17. rest — a break
  18. cell — in biology
  19. tear — to rip
  20. tear — from crying
  21. prune — to trim
  22. pop — to visit
  23. cell — a phone
  24. prune — to trim

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