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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. When are we going to ________________?
  3. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  4. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  5. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  6. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  7. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  8. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  9. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  10. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  11. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  12. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  13. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  14. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  15. The ________________ went through the wall.
  16. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  17. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  18. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  19. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  20. The water is too ________________.
  21. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  22. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  23. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  24. A black ________________ roamed the forest.

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

Answer key

  1. prune — to trim
  2. land — to come down
  3. face — part of the head
  4. cold — an illness
  5. bear — to put up with
  6. jam — to spread on bread
  7. nail — for a hammer
  8. face — to confront
  9. land — a country
  10. bear — the animal
  11. jam — in traffic
  12. land — ground
  13. prune — to trim
  14. cold — the Cold War
  15. nail — for a hammer
  16. cap — a lid
  17. cap — a hat
  18. prune — the fruit
  19. nail — on a finger
  20. cold — not warm
  21. jam — a tight spot
  22. cap — of ice
  23. face — to point toward
  24. bear — the animal

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