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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 had a ________________ with my boss today.
  2. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  3. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  4. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  5. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  6. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  7. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  8. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  9. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  10. We're almost out of ________________.
  11. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  12. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  13. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  14. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  15. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  16. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  17. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  18. The ________________ took off on time.
  19. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  20. You don't need to ________________ round.
  21. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  22. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  23. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  24. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. row — a quarrel
  2. prune — to trim
  3. can — to be able to
  4. track — a song
  5. kid — to tease
  6. kid — child
  7. can — a tin
  8. track — to keep track
  9. prune — to trim
  10. pop — soda
  11. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  12. prune — the fruit
  13. patient — a sick person
  14. patient — calm and waiting
  15. row — a line
  16. row — to paddle
  17. track — a path
  18. plane — an aircraft
  19. plane — in geometry
  20. pop — to visit
  21. plane — a tool
  22. pop — music
  23. can — a tin
  24. patient — a sick person

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