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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. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  3. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  4. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  5. That must've been a ________________.
  6. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  7. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  8. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  9. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  10. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  11. It's one o'clock ________________.
  12. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  13. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  14. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  15. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  16. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  17. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  18. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  19. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  20. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  21. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  22. He is an ace ________________.
  23. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  24. We took cover from the thunder ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. prune — to trim
  2. snap — to speak sharply
  3. toast — a drink to someone
  4. rush — to hurry
  5. rush — a thrill
  6. rush — hurry
  7. sharp — with an edge
  8. shower — a meteor shower
  9. pitcher — a jug
  10. prune — to trim
  11. sharp — exactly
  12. toast — the most admired
  13. degree — from a university
  14. degree — an amount
  15. sharp — clever
  16. toast — bread
  17. degree — temperature
  18. prune — the fruit
  19. snap — to snap out of it
  20. shower — to wash
  21. pitcher — a jug
  22. pitcher — in baseball
  23. snap — to click
  24. shower — rain

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