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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. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  2. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  3. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  4. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  5. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  6. The water is too ________________.
  7. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  8. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  9. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  10. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  11. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  12. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  13. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  14. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  15. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  16. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  17. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  18. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  19. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  20. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  21. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  22. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  23. Have you found your soul ________________?
  24. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.

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

Answer key

  1. prune — the fruit
  2. prune — to trim
  3. wind — moving air
  4. wind — moving air
  5. fan — to cool the air
  6. cold — not warm
  7. fan — a supporter
  8. bore — gave birth
  9. bore — to drill
  10. prune — to trim
  11. cold — the Cold War
  12. wind — to turn a key
  13. chest — of your body
  14. vault — a safe
  15. vault — in gymnastics
  16. fan — a supporter
  17. bore — to tire
  18. mate — a friend
  19. chest — a box
  20. chest — of your body
  21. cold — an illness
  22. mate — to breed
  23. mate — a partner
  24. vault — an arched ceiling

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