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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. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  2. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  3. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  4. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  5. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  6. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  7. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  8. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  9. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  10. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  11. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  12. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  13. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  14. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  15. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  16. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  17. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  18. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  19. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  20. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  21. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  22. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  23. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  24. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.

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

Answer key

  1. row — a line
  2. mine — an explosive
  3. patient — calm and waiting
  4. mine — belonging to me
  5. race — the arms race
  6. prune — the fruit
  7. trunk — of a car
  8. patient — a sick person
  9. race — humankind
  10. object — an aim
  11. trunk — of an elephant
  12. row — a quarrel
  13. trunk — of a tree
  14. object — to protest
  15. prune — to trim
  16. net — after costs
  17. mine — for digging
  18. net — for catching
  19. race — a contest
  20. object — a thing
  21. net — in sport
  22. row — to paddle
  23. patient — a sick person
  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