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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. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  2. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  3. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  4. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  5. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  6. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  7. The ________________ market has crashed.
  8. He works in a ________________ mill.
  9. We're almost out of ________________.
  10. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  11. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  12. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  13. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  14. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  15. He was locked up in a ________________.
  16. She's very handy with a ________________.
  17. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  18. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  19. You don't need to ________________ round.
  20. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  21. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  22. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  23. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  24. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.

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

Answer key

  1. prune — to trim
  2. prune — to trim
  3. cell — a phone
  4. squash — to crush
  5. shower — to wash
  6. pop — music
  7. stock — shares
  8. saw — the tool
  9. pop — soda
  10. cue — for pool
  11. stock — a soup base
  12. squash — the vegetable
  13. cue — a signal
  14. shower — a meteor shower
  15. cell — in a prison
  16. saw — the tool
  17. prune — the fruit
  18. stock — goods
  19. pop — to visit
  20. cue — a hint
  21. squash — the sport
  22. cell — in biology
  23. shower — rain
  24. saw — past of 'see'

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