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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. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  3. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  4. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  5. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  6. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  7. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  8. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  9. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  10. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  11. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  12. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  13. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  14. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  15. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. The water is too ________________.
  18. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  19. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  20. He is an ace ________________.
  21. That was ________________ to happen.
  22. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  23. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  24. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.

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

Answer key

  1. prune — the fruit
  2. kick — a thrill
  3. prune — to trim
  4. bound — obliged
  5. chair — a professorship
  6. mine — an explosive
  7. kick — with a leg
  8. mine — for digging
  9. bound — tied together
  10. leaves — to go away
  11. chair — to sit on
  12. chair — a leader
  13. pitcher — a jug
  14. prune — to trim
  15. mine — belonging to me
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. cold — not warm
  18. cold — an illness
  19. leaves — lets stay
  20. pitcher — in baseball
  21. bound — certain
  22. pitcher — a jug
  23. leaves — of a tree
  24. kick — in football

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