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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. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  3. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  4. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  5. The water is too ________________.
  6. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  7. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  8. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  9. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  10. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  11. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  12. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  13. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  14. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  15. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  16. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  17. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  18. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  19. The King held a masked ________________.
  20. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  21. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  22. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  23. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  24. The moon will ________________ and wane.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — an illness
  2. straw — dry grass
  3. ball — a great time
  4. straw — to clutch at straws
  5. cold — not warm
  6. ball — a round shape
  7. cold — the Cold War
  8. wax — for sculpting
  9. fork — to eat with
  10. prune — to trim
  11. straw — a straw man
  12. prune — the fruit
  13. mine — belonging to me
  14. mine — for digging
  15. jam — a tight spot
  16. wax — in the ear
  17. prune — to trim
  18. jam — in traffic
  19. ball — a dance
  20. fork — a garden tool
  21. fork — in a road
  22. mine — an explosive
  23. jam — to spread on bread
  24. wax — to grow

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