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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. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  2. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  3. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  4. Did you ________________ the meat?
  5. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  6. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  9. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  10. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  11. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  12. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  13. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  14. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  15. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  18. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  19. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  20. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  21. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  22. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  23. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  24. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — the Cold War
  2. prune — to trim
  3. content — videos and posts
  4. season — to add flavour
  5. squash — the sport
  6. fan — a supporter
  7. cold — not warm
  8. squash — to crush
  9. season — of the year
  10. patient — calm and waiting
  11. content — the amount
  12. prune — the fruit
  13. squash — the vegetable
  14. mine — for digging
  15. patient — a sick person
  16. cold — an illness
  17. fan — to cool the air
  18. prune — to trim
  19. mine — an explosive
  20. content — happy
  21. fan — a supporter
  22. patient — a sick person
  23. season — in sport
  24. mine — belonging to me

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