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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 seem to be developing a ________________.
  2. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  3. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  4. Don't do anything ________________.
  5. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  6. The water is too ________________.
  7. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  8. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  9. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  10. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  11. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  12. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  13. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  14. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  15. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  16. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  17. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  18. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  19. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  20. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  21. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  22. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  23. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  24. The ________________ market has crashed.

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

Answer key

  1. rash — on the skin
  2. spring — of water
  3. prune — to trim
  4. rash — hasty
  5. racket — a loud noise
  6. cold — not warm
  7. rash — a series
  8. hand — help
  9. hand — part of the body
  10. cold — the Cold War
  11. racket — for tennis
  12. spring — the season
  13. perch — the fish
  14. prune — the fruit
  15. prune — to trim
  16. hand — in cards
  17. perch — for a bird
  18. stock — a soup base
  19. spring — a coil
  20. racket — for tennis
  21. cold — an illness
  22. stock — goods
  23. perch — for a bird
  24. stock — shares

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