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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 120 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. The water is too ________________.
  2. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  5. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  6. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  7. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  8. You don't need to ________________ round.
  9. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  10. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  11. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  12. We're almost out of ________________.
  13. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  14. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  15. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  16. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  17. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  18. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  19. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  20. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  21. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  22. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  23. The ________________ market has crashed.
  24. What's the difference between broth and ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. prune — to trim
  3. cold — an illness
  4. prune — the fruit
  5. fork — a garden tool
  6. stick — a piece of wood
  7. fall — the season
  8. pop — to visit
  9. fall — to drop
  10. wax — in the ear
  11. wax — to grow
  12. pop — soda
  13. fall — to drop
  14. prune — to trim
  15. pop — music
  16. stock — goods
  17. stick — a piece of wood
  18. fork — to eat with
  19. cold — the Cold War
  20. stick — to attach or keep to
  21. fork — in a road
  22. wax — for sculpting
  23. stock — shares
  24. stock — a soup base

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