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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. He was locked up in a ________________.
  3. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  4. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  5. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  6. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  7. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  8. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  9. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  10. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  11. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  12. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  13. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  14. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  15. My mare is ________________ in color.
  16. Have you found your soul ________________?
  17. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  18. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  19. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  20. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  21. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  22. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  23. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  24. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.

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

Answer key

  1. prune — to trim
  2. cell — in a prison
  3. mate — a friend
  4. cell — a phone
  5. row — a line
  6. mate — to breed
  7. trunk — of an elephant
  8. row — to paddle
  9. bay — a part of the sea
  10. prune — the fruit
  11. prune — to trim
  12. mine — for digging
  13. mine — an explosive
  14. chest — of your body
  15. bay — a horse colour
  16. mate — a partner
  17. row — a quarrel
  18. mine — belonging to me
  19. bay — to keep at bay
  20. chest — of your body
  21. cell — in biology
  22. trunk — of a car
  23. trunk — of a tree
  24. chest — a box

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