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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 cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  2. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  3. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  4. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  5. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  6. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  7. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  8. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  9. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  10. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  13. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  14. The water is too ________________.
  15. False peace will not ________________.
  16. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  17. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  18. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  19. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  20. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  21. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  22. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  23. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  24. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. prune — to trim
  2. march — the month
  3. last — final
  4. lean — to rest against
  5. cold — the Cold War
  6. lean — thin
  7. hand — help
  8. hand — in cards
  9. fall — to drop
  10. fall — the season
  11. cold — an illness
  12. club — a group
  13. last — finally
  14. cold — not warm
  15. last — to go on
  16. fall — to drop
  17. club — for dancing
  18. prune — the fruit
  19. prune — to trim
  20. hand — part of the body
  21. lean — to bend
  22. march — music
  23. march — the month
  24. club — for golf

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