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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. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  2. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  3. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  4. He is an ace ________________.
  5. I've got to change the light ________________.
  6. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  7. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  8. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  9. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  10. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  11. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  12. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  13. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  14. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  15. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  16. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  17. That must've been a ________________.
  18. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  19. The water is too ________________.
  20. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  21. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  22. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  23. The light ________________ burned out.
  24. Fill up this ________________ with water.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — an illness
  2. prune — to trim
  3. prune — to trim
  4. pitcher — in baseball
  5. bulb — for light
  6. tear — to rip
  7. rush — hurry
  8. tear — from crying
  9. calf — a young animal
  10. rush — to hurry
  11. capital — a big letter
  12. bulb — of a plant
  13. capital — a city
  14. pitcher — a jug
  15. tear — from crying
  16. capital — money
  17. rush — a thrill
  18. cold — the Cold War
  19. cold — not warm
  20. calf — a young animal
  21. calf — of the leg
  22. prune — the fruit
  23. bulb — for light
  24. pitcher — a jug

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