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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. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  2. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  3. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  4. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  5. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  6. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  7. There's no middle ________________.
  8. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  9. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  10. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  11. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  12. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  13. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  14. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  15. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  16. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  17. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  18. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  19. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  20. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  21. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  22. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  23. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  24. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.

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

Answer key

  1. ground — crushed
  2. mine — for digging
  3. chest — of your body
  4. prune — to trim
  5. prune — to trim
  6. row — to paddle
  7. ground — a position
  8. row — a quarrel
  9. bear — to put up with
  10. bear — the animal
  11. row — a line
  12. leaves — to go away
  13. leaves — of a tree
  14. rest — what's left
  15. rest — a break
  16. chest — a box
  17. prune — the fruit
  18. rest — what's left
  19. chest — of your body
  20. mine — belonging to me
  21. bear — the animal
  22. mine — an explosive
  23. leaves — lets stay
  24. ground — the earth

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