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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. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  2. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  5. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  6. The water is too ________________.
  7. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  8. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  9. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  10. He is an ace ________________.
  11. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  12. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  13. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  14. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  15. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  16. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  17. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  18. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  19. Have you settled on a ________________?
  20. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  21. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  22. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  23. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  24. We were using a ________________ as a seat.

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

Answer key

  1. staff — employees
  2. staff — a stick
  3. cold — an illness
  4. hide — to keep secret
  5. deal — to handle
  6. cold — not warm
  7. date — on the calendar
  8. prune — the fruit
  9. prune — to trim
  10. pitcher — in baseball
  11. pitcher — a jug
  12. deal — an agreement
  13. hide — animal skin
  14. prune — to trim
  15. hide — to keep secret
  16. date — the fruit
  17. staff — employees
  18. rock — music
  19. date — on the calendar
  20. deal — a big deal
  21. rock — to move gently
  22. cold — the Cold War
  23. pitcher — a jug
  24. rock — a stone

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