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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. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  3. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  4. She's very handy with a ________________.
  5. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  6. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  7. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  8. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  9. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  10. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  11. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  12. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  13. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  14. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  15. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  16. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  17. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  18. He works in a ________________ mill.
  19. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  20. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  21. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  22. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  23. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  24. I play ________________ in a jazz band.

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

Answer key

  1. prune — to trim
  2. rule — to rule out
  3. content — videos and posts
  4. saw — the tool
  5. bass — low music
  6. content — happy
  7. prune — to trim
  8. prune — the fruit
  9. saw — past of 'see'
  10. spring — of water
  11. net — in sport
  12. straw — a straw man
  13. straw — to clutch at straws
  14. rule — government
  15. content — the amount
  16. spring — the season
  17. net — after costs
  18. saw — the tool
  19. straw — dry grass
  20. spring — a coil
  21. net — for catching
  22. bass — the fish
  23. rule — a law
  24. bass — the instrument

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