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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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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 didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  2. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  3. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  4. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  5. The King held a masked ________________.
  6. Have you found your soul ________________?
  7. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  8. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  9. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  10. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  11. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  12. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  13. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  14. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  15. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  16. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  17. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  18. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  19. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  20. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  21. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  22. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  23. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  24. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.

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

Answer key

  1. wake — to stop sleeping
  2. rule — to rule out
  3. ball — a great time
  4. prune — to trim
  5. ball — a dance
  6. mate — a partner
  7. fall — to drop
  8. ball — a round shape
  9. prune — the fruit
  10. prune — to trim
  11. trunk — of a car
  12. shower — rain
  13. trunk — of a tree
  14. trunk — of an elephant
  15. shower — to wash
  16. mate — a friend
  17. shower — a meteor shower
  18. fall — to drop
  19. wake — before a funeral
  20. mate — to breed
  21. fall — the season
  22. rule — government
  23. wake — a trail
  24. rule — a law

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