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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. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  2. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  3. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  4. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  5. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  6. He was locked up in a ________________.
  7. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  8. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  9. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  10. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  11. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  12. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  13. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  14. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  15. How do you ________________ your surname?
  16. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  17. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  18. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  19. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  20. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  21. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  22. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  23. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  24. I'd like to play a game of ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. prune — to trim
  2. kid — child
  3. staff — employees
  4. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  5. kid — to tease
  6. cell — in a prison
  7. prune — to trim
  8. cell — a phone
  9. staff — a stick
  10. file — a tool
  11. spell — a short time
  12. craft — a skill
  13. squash — the vegetable
  14. squash — to crush
  15. spell — letters
  16. craft — a handicraft
  17. file — a document
  18. prune — the fruit
  19. staff — employees
  20. craft — boats
  21. cell — in biology
  22. file — a line of people
  23. spell — magic
  24. squash — the sport

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