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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 had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  2. We're on a ________________ here.
  3. The water is too ________________.
  4. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  5. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  6. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  7. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  8. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  9. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  10. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  11. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  12. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  13. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  14. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  15. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  16. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  17. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  18. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  19. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  20. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  21. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  22. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  23. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  24. He hit the ball with his ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — an illness
  2. roll — on a roll
  3. cold — not warm
  4. cold — the Cold War
  5. prune — to trim
  6. trunk — of an elephant
  7. prune — to trim
  8. fall — to drop
  9. racket — a loud noise
  10. jam — a tight spot
  11. scale — in music
  12. scale — for weighing
  13. jam — in traffic
  14. jam — to spread on bread
  15. trunk — of a car
  16. roll — a list
  17. racket — for tennis
  18. scale — size or range
  19. fall — to drop
  20. roll — a cake
  21. prune — the fruit
  22. fall — the season
  23. trunk — of a tree
  24. racket — for tennis

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