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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. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  2. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  3. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  4. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  5. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  6. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  7. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  8. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  9. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  10. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  11. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  12. He works in a ________________ mill.
  13. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  14. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  15. False peace will not ________________.
  16. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  17. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  18. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  19. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  20. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  21. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  22. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  23. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  24. She's very handy with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — to wash
  2. prune — to trim
  3. mine — belonging to me
  4. shower — a meteor shower
  5. straw — a straw man
  6. track — a path
  7. pass — a permit
  8. pass — to succeed
  9. shower — rain
  10. last — final
  11. prune — the fruit
  12. saw — the tool
  13. saw — past of 'see'
  14. pass — to spend time
  15. last — to go on
  16. mine — an explosive
  17. straw — to clutch at straws
  18. last — finally
  19. prune — to trim
  20. track — to keep track
  21. straw — dry grass
  22. mine — for digging
  23. track — a song
  24. saw — the tool

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