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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. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  2. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  3. We're almost out of ________________.
  4. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  5. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  6. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  7. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  8. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  9. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  10. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  11. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  12. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  13. He was locked up in a ________________.
  14. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  15. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  16. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  17. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  18. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  19. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  20. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  21. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  22. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  23. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  24. You don't need to ________________ round.

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

Answer key

  1. wake — before a funeral
  2. pop — music
  3. pop — soda
  4. object — to protest
  5. present — a gift
  6. present — the time now
  7. dip — to sink
  8. prune — the fruit
  9. cell — a phone
  10. wake — a trail
  11. dip — a sauce
  12. object — an aim
  13. cell — in a prison
  14. dip — to dunk
  15. drill — a practice
  16. cell — in biology
  17. present — there
  18. object — a thing
  19. wake — to stop sleeping
  20. prune — to trim
  21. drill — the tool
  22. drill — army training
  23. prune — to trim
  24. pop — to visit

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