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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. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  3. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  4. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  5. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  6. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  7. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  8. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  9. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  10. It's one o'clock ________________.
  11. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  12. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  13. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  14. That was a fun ________________.
  15. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  16. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  17. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  18. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  19. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  20. He was locked up in a ________________.
  21. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  22. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  23. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  24. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.

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

Answer key

  1. prune — to trim
  2. present — a gift
  3. game — wild animals
  4. patient — a sick person
  5. mark — a trace
  6. cell — a phone
  7. present — there
  8. snap — to snap out of it
  9. prune — to trim
  10. sharp — exactly
  11. prune — the fruit
  12. mark — a grade
  13. snap — to speak sharply
  14. game — a match
  15. patient — calm and waiting
  16. game — a kind of play
  17. sharp — clever
  18. present — the time now
  19. mark — to pay attention
  20. cell — in a prison
  21. sharp — with an edge
  22. snap — to click
  23. patient — a sick person
  24. cell — in biology

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