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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. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  2. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  3. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  4. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  5. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  6. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  7. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  8. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  9. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  10. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  11. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  12. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  13. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  14. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  15. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  16. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  17. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  18. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  19. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  20. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  21. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  22. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  23. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  24. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. prune — the fruit
  2. band — a ring
  3. hide — to keep secret
  4. hide — to keep secret
  5. bat — for baseball
  6. wind — to turn a key
  7. spring — a coil
  8. bat — in an idiom
  9. band — a music group
  10. chair — a leader
  11. snap — to snap out of it
  12. bat — the animal
  13. spring — the season
  14. snap — to speak sharply
  15. band — a rubber band
  16. prune — to trim
  17. wind — moving air
  18. prune — to trim
  19. snap — to click
  20. spring — of water
  21. chair — to sit on
  22. hide — animal skin
  23. wind — moving air
  24. chair — a professorship

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