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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. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  2. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  3. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  4. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  5. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  6. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  7. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  8. We're almost out of ________________.
  9. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  10. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  11. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  12. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  15. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  16. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  17. How do you ________________ your surname?
  18. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  19. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  20. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  21. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  22. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  23. You don't need to ________________ round.
  24. The water is too ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wake — before a funeral
  2. face — to point toward
  3. wake — a trail
  4. prune — to trim
  5. cold — the Cold War
  6. present — a gift
  7. spell — a short time
  8. pop — soda
  9. spring — the season
  10. spring — of water
  11. wake — to stop sleeping
  12. face — part of the head
  13. cold — an illness
  14. spring — a coil
  15. present — there
  16. present — the time now
  17. spell — letters
  18. prune — the fruit
  19. spell — magic
  20. face — to confront
  21. pop — music
  22. prune — to trim
  23. pop — to visit
  24. cold — not warm

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