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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. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  2. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  3. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  4. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  5. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  6. Have you found your soul ________________?
  7. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  8. He was locked up in a ________________.
  9. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  10. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  11. How do you ________________ your surname?
  12. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  13. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  14. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  15. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  16. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  17. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  18. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  19. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  20. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  21. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  22. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  23. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  24. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — an explosive
  2. mine — for digging
  3. mine — belonging to me
  4. lie — to recline
  5. prune — to trim
  6. mate — a partner
  7. mate — a friend
  8. cell — in a prison
  9. squash — to crush
  10. lie — an untruth
  11. spell — letters
  12. squash — the sport
  13. shower — a meteor shower
  14. spell — magic
  15. shower — rain
  16. prune — to trim
  17. lie — an untruth
  18. mate — to breed
  19. cell — a phone
  20. prune — the fruit
  21. cell — in biology
  22. shower — to wash
  23. spell — a short time
  24. squash — the vegetable

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