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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. The water is too ________________.
  3. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  4. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  5. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  6. He is an ace ________________.
  7. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  8. You don't need to ________________ round.
  9. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  10. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  11. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  12. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  13. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  14. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  15. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  16. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  17. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  18. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  19. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  20. Did you ________________ the button?
  21. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  22. We're almost out of ________________.
  23. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  24. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — the Cold War
  2. cold — not warm
  3. prune — the fruit
  4. content — happy
  5. prune — to trim
  6. pitcher — in baseball
  7. pitcher — a jug
  8. pop — to visit
  9. hide — to keep secret
  10. cold — an illness
  11. kick — a thrill
  12. kick — in football
  13. kick — with a leg
  14. press — newspapers
  15. content — videos and posts
  16. pop — music
  17. hide — to keep secret
  18. content — the amount
  19. prune — to trim
  20. press — to push
  21. press — a publisher
  22. pop — soda
  23. pitcher — a jug
  24. hide — animal skin

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