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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. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  2. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  3. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  4. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  5. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  6. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  7. Have you found your soul ________________?
  8. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  9. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  10. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  11. Did you ________________ the button?
  12. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  13. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  14. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  15. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  16. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  17. She's very handy with a ________________.
  18. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  19. He works in a ________________ mill.
  20. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  21. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  22. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  23. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  24. The ________________ went through the wall.

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

Answer key

  1. nail — on a finger
  2. prune — to trim
  3. track — a path
  4. shower — to wash
  5. mate — a friend
  6. press — a publisher
  7. mate — a partner
  8. saw — past of 'see'
  9. track — a song
  10. shower — a meteor shower
  11. press — to push
  12. hand — part of the body
  13. prune — to trim
  14. press — newspapers
  15. prune — the fruit
  16. hand — help
  17. saw — the tool
  18. nail — for a hammer
  19. saw — the tool
  20. hand — in cards
  21. mate — to breed
  22. shower — rain
  23. track — to keep track
  24. nail — for a hammer

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