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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. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  2. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  3. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  4. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  5. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  6. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  7. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  8. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  9. There's no middle ________________.
  10. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  11. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  12. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  13. The water is too ________________.
  14. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  15. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  16. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  17. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  18. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  19. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  20. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  21. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  22. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  23. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  24. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?

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

Answer key

  1. present — the time now
  2. prune — to trim
  3. craft — a handicraft
  4. cold — an illness
  5. craft — boats
  6. file — a document
  7. file — a tool
  8. present — there
  9. ground — a position
  10. file — a line of people
  11. patient — calm and waiting
  12. prune — the fruit
  13. cold — not warm
  14. trunk — of a tree
  15. trunk — of a car
  16. patient — a sick person
  17. trunk — of an elephant
  18. craft — a skill
  19. ground — the earth
  20. patient — a sick person
  21. prune — to trim
  22. cold — the Cold War
  23. ground — crushed
  24. present — a gift

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