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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 got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  2. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  3. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  4. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  5. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  6. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  7. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  8. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  9. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  10. He was locked up in a ________________.
  11. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  12. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  13. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  14. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  15. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. The water is too ________________.
  18. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  19. David sat on the ________________.
  20. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  21. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  22. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  23. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  24. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. fine — a penalty
  2. cell — in biology
  3. fine — high quality
  4. deal — a big deal
  5. present — a gift
  6. prune — to trim
  7. file — a document
  8. present — the time now
  9. prune — to trim
  10. cell — in a prison
  11. swing — in golf
  12. deal — an agreement
  13. fine — all right
  14. file — a tool
  15. present — there
  16. cold — an illness
  17. cold — not warm
  18. cell — a phone
  19. swing — to play on
  20. swing — music
  21. cold — the Cold War
  22. deal — to handle
  23. prune — the fruit
  24. file — a line of people

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