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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. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  3. The water is too ________________.
  4. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  5. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  6. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  7. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  8. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  9. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  10. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  11. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  12. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  13. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  14. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  15. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  16. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  17. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  18. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  19. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  20. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  21. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  22. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  23. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  24. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. prune — to trim
  2. object — a thing
  3. cold — not warm
  4. racket — for tennis
  5. snap — to speak sharply
  6. object — to protest
  7. bass — low music
  8. snap — to snap out of it
  9. mine — an explosive
  10. racket — for tennis
  11. perch — for a bird
  12. bass — the fish
  13. bass — the instrument
  14. racket — a loud noise
  15. mine — belonging to me
  16. snap — to click
  17. perch — the fish
  18. mine — for digging
  19. prune — to trim
  20. cold — the Cold War
  21. cold — an illness
  22. prune — the fruit
  23. perch — for a bird
  24. object — an aim

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