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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. The ________________ took off on time.
  2. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  3. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  4. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  5. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  6. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  7. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  8. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  9. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. Did you ________________ the meat?
  12. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  13. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  14. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  15. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  16. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  17. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  18. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  19. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  20. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  21. I'll be taking the ________________.
  22. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  23. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  24. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. plane — an aircraft
  2. tube — a container
  3. lash — an eyelash
  4. prune — to trim
  5. prune — to trim
  6. cold — an illness
  7. hand — in cards
  8. plane — a tool
  9. tube — in a tire
  10. cold — not warm
  11. season — to add flavour
  12. hand — help
  13. band — a music group
  14. plane — in geometry
  15. prune — the fruit
  16. season — of the year
  17. lash — to lash out
  18. band — a rubber band
  19. hand — part of the body
  20. band — a ring
  21. tube — the underground
  22. cold — the Cold War
  23. lash — a whip stroke
  24. season — in sport

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