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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. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  2. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  3. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  4. The water is too ________________.
  5. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  6. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  7. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  8. Have you met the new head ________________?
  9. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  10. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  11. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  12. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  13. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  14. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  15. The ________________ took off on time.
  16. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  17. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  18. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  19. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  20. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  21. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  22. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  23. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  24. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.

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

Answer key

  1. prune — to trim
  2. file — a document
  3. band — a rubber band
  4. cold — not warm
  5. prune — the fruit
  6. file — a tool
  7. can — a tin
  8. coach — a trainer
  9. band — a music group
  10. foot — part of the body
  11. plane — a tool
  12. foot — the bottom
  13. band — a ring
  14. coach — a trainer
  15. plane — an aircraft
  16. file — a line of people
  17. can — to be able to
  18. foot — a measure
  19. prune — to trim
  20. coach — pulled by horses
  21. can — a tin
  22. cold — the Cold War
  23. plane — in geometry
  24. cold — an illness

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