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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. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  2. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  3. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  4. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  5. The water is too ________________.
  6. That was ________________ to happen.
  7. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  8. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  9. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  10. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  11. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  12. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  13. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  14. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  15. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  16. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  17. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  18. He was locked up in a ________________.
  19. My father caught me by the ________________.
  20. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  21. Have you settled on a ________________?
  22. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — in cards
  2. prune — the fruit
  3. bank — of a river
  4. prune — to trim
  5. cold — not warm
  6. bound — certain
  7. date — on the calendar
  8. cell — in biology
  9. cold — an illness
  10. prune — to trim
  11. bound — obliged
  12. arm — part of the body
  13. arm — a part of something
  14. cell — a phone
  15. bank — for money
  16. bank — for money
  17. hand — part of the body
  18. cell — in a prison
  19. arm — part of the body
  20. hand — help
  21. date — on the calendar
  22. date — the fruit
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. bound — tied together

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