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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. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  2. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  3. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  4. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  5. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  6. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  7. False peace will not ________________.
  8. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  9. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  10. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  11. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  12. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  13. The ________________ market has crashed.
  14. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  15. That was ________________ to happen.
  16. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  17. I'll be taking the ________________.
  18. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  19. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  20. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  21. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  22. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  23. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  24. The water is too ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. prune — to trim
  2. bound — obliged
  3. prune — the fruit
  4. cold — an illness
  5. stock — goods
  6. last — finally
  7. last — to go on
  8. clip — a video
  9. tube — a container
  10. prune — to trim
  11. cold — the Cold War
  12. bound — tied together
  13. stock — shares
  14. wave — of the sea
  15. bound — certain
  16. clip — for paper
  17. tube — the underground
  18. last — final
  19. stock — a soup base
  20. wave — a sudden rise
  21. tube — in a tire
  22. wave — with your hand
  23. clip — to cut
  24. cold — not warm

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