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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. The water is too ________________.
  2. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  3. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  4. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  5. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  6. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  7. When are we going to ________________?
  8. My father caught me by the ________________.
  9. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  10. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  11. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  12. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  13. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  14. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  15. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  16. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  17. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  18. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  19. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  20. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  21. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  22. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  23. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  24. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. hand — part of the body
  3. prune — to trim
  4. mouse — for a computer
  5. arm — part of the body
  6. mouse — the animal
  7. land — to come down
  8. arm — part of the body
  9. arm — a part of something
  10. cold — an illness
  11. mark — a grade
  12. hand — help
  13. mark — to pay attention
  14. prune — to trim
  15. craft — boats
  16. mark — a trace
  17. land — ground
  18. hand — in cards
  19. mouse — the animal
  20. land — a country
  21. craft — a skill
  22. craft — a handicraft
  23. prune — the fruit
  24. cold — the Cold War

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