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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. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  2. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  3. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  4. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  5. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  6. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  7. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  8. The water is too ________________.
  9. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  10. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  13. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  14. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  15. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  16. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  17. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  18. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  19. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  20. Have you settled on a ________________?
  21. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  22. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  23. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  24. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.

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

Answer key

  1. rest — what's left
  2. date — on the calendar
  3. leaves — lets stay
  4. rest — a break
  5. bowl — to roll
  6. row — to paddle
  7. prune — to trim
  8. cold — not warm
  9. prune — to trim
  10. prune — the fruit
  11. cold — an illness
  12. perch — for a bird
  13. leaves — to go away
  14. perch — for a bird
  15. date — the fruit
  16. perch — the fish
  17. leaves — of a tree
  18. rest — what's left
  19. cold — the Cold War
  20. date — on the calendar
  21. row — a quarrel
  22. bowl — a dish
  23. row — a line
  24. bowl — a football final

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