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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. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  2. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  3. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  4. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  5. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  6. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  7. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  8. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  9. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  10. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  11. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  12. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  13. When are we going to ________________?
  14. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  15. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  16. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  17. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  18. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  19. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  20. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  21. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  22. Don't do anything ________________.
  23. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  24. I got dealt a bad ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. prune — to trim
  2. pitch — completely
  3. rash — on the skin
  4. land — ground
  5. rash — a series
  6. hand — part of the body
  7. land — a country
  8. hand — help
  9. shower — rain
  10. file — a document
  11. file — a line of people
  12. file — a tool
  13. land — to come down
  14. shower — to wash
  15. pitch — a sports field
  16. pitch — a sales talk
  17. prune — to trim
  18. prune — the fruit
  19. bear — the animal
  20. bear — to put up with
  21. bear — the animal
  22. rash — hasty
  23. shower — a meteor shower
  24. hand — in cards

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