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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. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  2. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  3. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  4. The ________________ market has crashed.
  5. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  6. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  7. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  8. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  9. Have you settled on a ________________?
  10. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  11. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  12. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  13. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  14. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  15. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  16. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  17. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  18. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  19. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  20. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  21. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  22. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  23. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  24. What's the difference between broth and ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. prune — to trim
  2. firm — steady
  3. chest — of your body
  4. stock — shares
  5. firm — a company
  6. date — the fruit
  7. prune — the fruit
  8. patient — calm and waiting
  9. date — on the calendar
  10. patient — a sick person
  11. shower — to wash
  12. march — music
  13. patient — a sick person
  14. chest — of your body
  15. march — the month
  16. firm — decided
  17. prune — to trim
  18. stock — goods
  19. chest — a box
  20. shower — a meteor shower
  21. march — the month
  22. date — on the calendar
  23. shower — rain
  24. stock — a soup base

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