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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. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  2. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  3. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  4. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  5. The water is too ________________.
  6. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  7. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  8. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  9. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  10. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  11. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  12. Don't do anything ________________.
  13. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  14. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  15. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  16. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  17. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  18. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  19. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  20. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  21. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  22. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  23. False peace will not ________________.
  24. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.

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

Answer key

  1. prune — to trim
  2. cold — an illness
  3. last — finally
  4. prune — the fruit
  5. cold — not warm
  6. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  7. kid — child
  8. rash — on the skin
  9. straw — to clutch at straws
  10. prune — to trim
  11. object — to protest
  12. rash — hasty
  13. rash — a series
  14. straw — dry grass
  15. last — final
  16. object — a thing
  17. straw — a straw man
  18. perch — for a bird
  19. cold — the Cold War
  20. perch — the fish
  21. object — an aim
  22. perch — for a bird
  23. last — to go on
  24. kid — to tease

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