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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 would like to have a ________________ here.
  2. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  3. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  4. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  5. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  6. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  7. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  8. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  9. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  10. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  11. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  12. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  13. The ________________ went through the wall.
  14. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  15. Don't do anything ________________.
  16. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  17. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  18. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  19. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  20. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  21. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  22. We're on a ________________ here.
  23. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  24. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.

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

Answer key

  1. rest — a break
  2. nail — on a finger
  3. prune — to trim
  4. spring — the season
  5. snap — to speak sharply
  6. rash — a series
  7. prune — the fruit
  8. snap — to click
  9. degree — from a university
  10. degree — temperature
  11. spring — of water
  12. nail — for a hammer
  13. nail — for a hammer
  14. degree — an amount
  15. rash — hasty
  16. spring — a coil
  17. rash — on the skin
  18. prune — to trim
  19. roll — a list
  20. rest — what's left
  21. roll — a cake
  22. roll — on a roll
  23. rest — what's left
  24. snap — to snap out of it

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