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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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468
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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 had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  2. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  3. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  4. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  5. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  6. The water is too ________________.
  7. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  8. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  9. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  10. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  11. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  12. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  13. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  14. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  15. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  16. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  17. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  18. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  19. He was locked up in a ________________.
  20. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  21. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  22. This piece is in a major ________________.
  23. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  24. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — an illness
  2. present — a gift
  3. prune — the fruit
  4. prune — to trim
  5. tear — from crying
  6. cold — not warm
  7. cell — a phone
  8. key — the most important part
  9. pass — to succeed
  10. rock — to move gently
  11. key — for a lock
  12. cell — in biology
  13. prune — to trim
  14. tear — to rip
  15. rock — a stone
  16. present — there
  17. tear — from crying
  18. cold — the Cold War
  19. cell — in a prison
  20. rock — music
  21. pass — to spend time
  22. key — in music
  23. pass — a permit
  24. present — the time now

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