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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. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  2. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  3. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  4. What do you think of the new ________________?
  5. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  6. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  7. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  8. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  9. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  10. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  11. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  12. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  13. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  14. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  15. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  16. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  17. It's one o'clock ________________.
  18. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  19. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  20. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  21. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  22. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  23. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  24. A ________________ is just a dried plum.

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

Answer key

  1. leaves — to go away
  2. cabinet — ministers
  3. sharp — clever
  4. cabinet — ministers
  5. bat — in an idiom
  6. chest — of your body
  7. leaves — lets stay
  8. chest — of your body
  9. craft — a handicraft
  10. bat — for baseball
  11. row — to paddle
  12. bat — the animal
  13. cabinet — a cupboard
  14. craft — a skill
  15. leaves — of a tree
  16. row — a line
  17. sharp — exactly
  18. chest — a box
  19. craft — boats
  20. row — a quarrel
  21. prune — to trim
  22. sharp — with an edge
  23. prune — to trim
  24. prune — the fruit

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