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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. The water is too ________________.
  3. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  4. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  5. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  6. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  7. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  8. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  9. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  10. That was a fun ________________.
  11. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  12. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  13. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  14. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  15. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  16. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  17. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  18. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  19. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  20. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  21. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  22. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  23. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  24. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.

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

Answer key

  1. prune — to trim
  2. cold — not warm
  3. dip — to sink
  4. staff — employees
  5. file — a line of people
  6. file — a tool
  7. staff — a stick
  8. game — a kind of play
  9. cold — the Cold War
  10. game — a match
  11. stick — a piece of wood
  12. bass — low music
  13. bass — the instrument
  14. dip — to dunk
  15. file — a document
  16. prune — the fruit
  17. dip — a sauce
  18. prune — to trim
  19. game — wild animals
  20. stick — a piece of wood
  21. cold — an illness
  22. staff — employees
  23. bass — the fish
  24. stick — to attach or keep to

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