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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. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  2. The water is too ________________.
  3. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  4. She's very handy with a ________________.
  5. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  6. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  7. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  8. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  9. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  10. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  11. He works in a ________________ mill.
  12. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  13. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  14. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  15. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  16. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  17. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  18. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  19. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  20. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  21. It's one o'clock ________________.
  22. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  23. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  24. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.

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

Answer key

  1. leaves — lets stay
  2. cold — not warm
  3. squash — to crush
  4. saw — the tool
  5. cold — the Cold War
  6. prune — the fruit
  7. leaves — to go away
  8. sharp — with an edge
  9. leaves — of a tree
  10. bat — in an idiom
  11. saw — the tool
  12. staff — employees
  13. staff — a stick
  14. sharp — clever
  15. bat — for baseball
  16. saw — past of 'see'
  17. prune — to trim
  18. squash — the sport
  19. cold — an illness
  20. bat — the animal
  21. sharp — exactly
  22. prune — to trim
  23. squash — the vegetable
  24. staff — employees

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