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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 120 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 hit the ball with his ________________.
  2. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  3. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  4. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  5. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  6. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  7. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  8. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  9. My mare is ________________ in color.
  10. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  11. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  12. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  13. There's no middle ________________.
  14. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  15. It's one o'clock ________________.
  16. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  17. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  18. He was locked up in a ________________.
  19. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  20. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  21. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  22. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  23. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  24. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?

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

Answer key

  1. racket — for tennis
  2. prune — to trim
  3. rule — a law
  4. prune — to trim
  5. cell — in biology
  6. ground — crushed
  7. ground — the earth
  8. cell — a phone
  9. bay — a horse colour
  10. sharp — clever
  11. racket — a loud noise
  12. row — a line
  13. ground — a position
  14. racket — for tennis
  15. sharp — exactly
  16. bay — to keep at bay
  17. sharp — with an edge
  18. cell — in a prison
  19. bay — a part of the sea
  20. prune — the fruit
  21. row — a quarrel
  22. rule — to rule out
  23. row — to paddle
  24. rule — government

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