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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. What do you think of the new ________________?
  2. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  3. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  4. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  5. Have you found your soul ________________?
  6. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  7. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  8. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  9. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  10. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  11. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  12. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  13. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  14. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  15. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  16. My father caught me by the ________________.
  17. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  18. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  19. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  20. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  21. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  22. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  23. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  24. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.

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

Answer key

  1. cabinet — ministers
  2. mate — a friend
  3. shower — to wash
  4. row — a quarrel
  5. mate — a partner
  6. row — to paddle
  7. spring — of water
  8. prune — the fruit
  9. shower — a meteor shower
  10. spring — a coil
  11. row — a line
  12. spring — the season
  13. arm — part of the body
  14. mate — to breed
  15. prune — to trim
  16. arm — part of the body
  17. arm — a part of something
  18. prune — to trim
  19. cabinet — a cupboard
  20. pitch — a sales talk
  21. pitch — a sports field
  22. cabinet — ministers
  23. shower — rain
  24. pitch — completely

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