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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. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  2. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  3. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  4. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  5. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  6. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  7. You don't need to ________________ round.
  8. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  9. The water is too ________________.
  10. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  11. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  12. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  13. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  14. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  15. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  16. We're almost out of ________________.
  17. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  18. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  19. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  20. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  21. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  22. He was locked up in a ________________.
  23. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  24. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — the Cold War
  2. pit — a hole
  3. march — the month
  4. cold — an illness
  5. prune — to trim
  6. prune — the fruit
  7. pop — to visit
  8. prune — to trim
  9. cold — not warm
  10. pit — in a race
  11. cell — a phone
  12. pop — music
  13. firm — decided
  14. march — the month
  15. firm — a company
  16. pop — soda
  17. pit — a fruit stone
  18. march — music
  19. band — a rubber band
  20. cell — in biology
  21. band — a ring
  22. cell — in a prison
  23. band — a music group
  24. firm — steady

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