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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 124 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. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  2. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  3. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  4. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  5. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  6. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  7. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  8. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  9. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  10. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  11. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  12. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  13. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  14. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  15. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  16. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  17. The water is too ________________.
  18. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  19. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  20. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  21. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  22. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  23. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  24. Would you like some apricot ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. kid — to tease
  2. prune — to trim
  3. pass — to succeed
  4. mouse — the animal
  5. prune — the fruit
  6. mouse — the animal
  7. cold — the Cold War
  8. face — part of the head
  9. face — to confront
  10. face — to point toward
  11. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  12. kid — child
  13. jam — in traffic
  14. present — there
  15. pass — to spend time
  16. present — the time now
  17. cold — not warm
  18. prune — to trim
  19. pass — a permit
  20. present — a gift
  21. mouse — for a computer
  22. cold — an illness
  23. jam — a tight spot
  24. jam — to spread on bread

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