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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 120 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. The water is too ________________.
  2. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  3. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  4. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  5. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  6. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  7. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  8. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  9. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  10. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  11. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  12. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  13. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  14. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  15. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  16. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  17. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  18. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  19. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  20. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  21. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  22. The ________________ went through the wall.
  23. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  24. There's no middle ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. cold — an illness
  3. prune — to trim
  4. prune — to trim
  5. cold — the Cold War
  6. nail — for a hammer
  7. club — a group
  8. stick — to attach or keep to
  9. stick — a piece of wood
  10. file — a document
  11. club — for golf
  12. hide — animal skin
  13. ground — crushed
  14. hide — to keep secret
  15. prune — the fruit
  16. hide — to keep secret
  17. ground — the earth
  18. stick — a piece of wood
  19. nail — on a finger
  20. file — a tool
  21. file — a line of people
  22. nail — for a hammer
  23. club — for dancing
  24. ground — a position

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