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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 can't ________________ this cold.
  3. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  4. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  5. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  6. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  7. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  8. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  9. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  10. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  11. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  12. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  13. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  14. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  15. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  16. Have you settled on a ________________?
  17. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  18. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  19. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  20. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  21. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  22. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  23. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  24. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. prune — to trim
  2. stand — to bear
  3. stick — a piece of wood
  4. bear — the animal
  5. date — the fruit
  6. kid — child
  7. bear — to put up with
  8. shower — to wash
  9. prune — the fruit
  10. stick — to attach or keep to
  11. stick — a piece of wood
  12. stand — for spectators
  13. file — a tool
  14. shower — rain
  15. kid — to tease
  16. date — on the calendar
  17. prune — to trim
  18. date — on the calendar
  19. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  20. stand — on your feet
  21. shower — a meteor shower
  22. file — a document
  23. bear — the animal
  24. file — a line of people

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