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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. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  3. Did you ________________ the meat?
  4. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  5. When are we going to ________________?
  6. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  7. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  8. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  9. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  10. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  11. That must've been a ________________.
  12. False peace will not ________________.
  13. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  14. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  15. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  16. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  17. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  18. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  19. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  20. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  21. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  22. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  23. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  24. You shouldn't ________________ things.

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

Answer key

  1. prune — the fruit
  2. season — of the year
  3. season — to add flavour
  4. file — a tool
  5. land — to come down
  6. season — in sport
  7. chest — of your body
  8. file — a line of people
  9. rush — hurry
  10. file — a document
  11. rush — a thrill
  12. last — to go on
  13. deal — a big deal
  14. last — final
  15. prune — to trim
  16. deal — to handle
  17. chest — a box
  18. prune — to trim
  19. deal — an agreement
  20. land — ground
  21. last — finally
  22. land — a country
  23. chest — of your body
  24. rush — to hurry

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