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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 116 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. That was a fun ________________.
  3. You don't need to ________________ round.
  4. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  5. The ________________ took off on time.
  6. We're almost out of ________________.
  7. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  8. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  9. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  10. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  11. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  12. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  13. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  14. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  15. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  16. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  17. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  18. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  19. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  20. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  21. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  22. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  23. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  24. I can't ________________ this cold.

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

Answer key

  1. prune — to trim
  2. game — a match
  3. pop — to visit
  4. straw — dry grass
  5. plane — an aircraft
  6. pop — soda
  7. wind — moving air
  8. plane — a tool
  9. game — wild animals
  10. scale — size or range
  11. prune — the fruit
  12. scale — for weighing
  13. stand — on your feet
  14. prune — to trim
  15. scale — in music
  16. wind — moving air
  17. game — a kind of play
  18. stand — for spectators
  19. straw — a straw man
  20. pop — music
  21. wind — to turn a key
  22. straw — to clutch at straws
  23. plane — in geometry
  24. stand — to bear

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