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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. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  2. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  3. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  4. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  5. The water is too ________________.
  6. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  7. When are we going to ________________?
  8. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  9. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  10. When will it ________________ you to start?
  11. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  12. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  13. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  14. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  15. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  16. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  17. My father caught me by the ________________.
  18. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  19. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  20. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  21. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  22. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  23. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  24. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.

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

Answer key

  1. squash — the sport
  2. prune — to trim
  3. prune — the fruit
  4. patient — a sick person
  5. cold — not warm
  6. squash — to crush
  7. land — to come down
  8. prune — to trim
  9. arm — a part of something
  10. suit — to fit
  11. land — a country
  12. patient — a sick person
  13. cold — the Cold War
  14. squash — the vegetable
  15. suit — in cards
  16. arm — part of the body
  17. arm — part of the body
  18. file — a document
  19. file — a tool
  20. land — ground
  21. cold — an illness
  22. file — a line of people
  23. suit — clothes
  24. patient — calm and waiting

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