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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.

Make a worksheet

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. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  2. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  3. The water is too ________________.
  4. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  5. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  6. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  7. She's very handy with a ________________.
  8. Did you ________________ the meat?
  9. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  10. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  11. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  12. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  13. He works in a ________________ mill.
  14. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  15. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  16. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  17. Where did you ________________ them?
  18. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  19. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  20. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  21. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  22. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  23. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  24. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.

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

Answer key

  1. staff — employees
  2. mug — a face
  3. cold — not warm
  4. tear — from crying
  5. tear — from crying
  6. prune — to trim
  7. saw — the tool
  8. season — to add flavour
  9. march — the month
  10. prune — to trim
  11. prune — the fruit
  12. staff — employees
  13. saw — the tool
  14. season — in sport
  15. saw — past of 'see'
  16. march — the month
  17. mug — to rob
  18. season — of the year
  19. march — music
  20. mug — a cup
  21. cold — the Cold War
  22. staff — a stick
  23. tear — to rip
  24. cold — an illness

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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