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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. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  2. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  3. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  4. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  5. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  6. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  7. The ________________ went through the wall.
  8. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  9. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  10. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  11. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  12. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  13. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  14. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  15. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  16. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  17. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  18. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  19. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  20. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  21. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  22. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  23. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  24. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?

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

Answer key

  1. prune — the fruit
  2. spring — of water
  3. lash — a whip stroke
  4. lash — to lash out
  5. prune — to trim
  6. rule — to rule out
  7. nail — for a hammer
  8. file — a line of people
  9. spring — a coil
  10. spring — the season
  11. file — a tool
  12. fine — all right
  13. file — a document
  14. bat — the animal
  15. lash — an eyelash
  16. bat — in an idiom
  17. nail — on a finger
  18. fine — a penalty
  19. rule — a law
  20. fine — high quality
  21. nail — for a hammer
  22. prune — to trim
  23. bat — for baseball
  24. rule — government

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