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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. The water is too ________________.
  3. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  4. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  5. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  6. When are we going to ________________?
  7. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  8. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  9. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  10. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  11. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  12. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  13. Have you settled on a ________________?
  14. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  15. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  16. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  17. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  18. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  19. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  20. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  21. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  22. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  23. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  24. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — an illness
  2. cold — not warm
  3. prune — to trim
  4. present — there
  5. racket — for tennis
  6. land — to come down
  7. date — on the calendar
  8. wake — to stop sleeping
  9. prune — the fruit
  10. land — ground
  11. bear — to put up with
  12. date — the fruit
  13. date — on the calendar
  14. bear — the animal
  15. wake — before a funeral
  16. present — a gift
  17. bear — the animal
  18. racket — for tennis
  19. cold — the Cold War
  20. wake — a trail
  21. racket — a loud noise
  22. land — a country
  23. prune — to trim
  24. present — the time now

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