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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 124 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. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  2. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  3. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  4. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  5. Did you ________________ the meat?
  6. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  7. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  8. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  9. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  10. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  11. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  12. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  13. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  14. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  15. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  16. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  17. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  18. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  19. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  20. Have you met the new head ________________?
  21. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  22. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  23. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  24. That must've been a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. prune — to trim
  2. fan — a supporter
  3. rush — to hurry
  4. rule — a law
  5. season — to add flavour
  6. season — of the year
  7. band — a rubber band
  8. rule — to rule out
  9. bat — the animal
  10. coach — pulled by horses
  11. fan — a supporter
  12. bat — in an idiom
  13. prune — to trim
  14. band — a music group
  15. band — a ring
  16. rush — hurry
  17. coach — a trainer
  18. bat — for baseball
  19. rule — government
  20. coach — a trainer
  21. season — in sport
  22. prune — the fruit
  23. fan — to cool the air
  24. rush — a thrill

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