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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. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  2. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  3. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  4. That was a fun ________________.
  5. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  6. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  7. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  8. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  9. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  10. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  11. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  12. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  13. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  14. The water is too ________________.
  15. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  16. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  17. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  18. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  19. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  20. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  21. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  22. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  23. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  24. A ________________ is just a dried plum.

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

Answer key

  1. toast — bread
  2. craft — boats
  3. prune — to trim
  4. game — a match
  5. patient — a sick person
  6. patient — a sick person
  7. cold — the Cold War
  8. cold — an illness
  9. craft — a handicraft
  10. present — a gift
  11. present — the time now
  12. track — to keep track
  13. prune — to trim
  14. cold — not warm
  15. present — there
  16. toast — the most admired
  17. game — a kind of play
  18. track — a song
  19. craft — a skill
  20. game — wild animals
  21. track — a path
  22. patient — calm and waiting
  23. toast — a drink to someone
  24. prune — the fruit

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