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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 120 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. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  3. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  4. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  5. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  6. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  7. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  8. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  9. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  10. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  11. Have you found your soul ________________?
  12. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  13. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  14. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  15. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  16. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  17. When are we going to ________________?
  18. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  19. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  20. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  21. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  22. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  23. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  24. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.

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

Answer key

  1. prune — to trim
  2. race — the arms race
  3. shower — a meteor shower
  4. mate — a friend
  5. race — humankind
  6. mate — to breed
  7. land — ground
  8. prune — to trim
  9. chest — of your body
  10. shower — to wash
  11. mate — a partner
  12. land — a country
  13. shower — rain
  14. foot — the bottom
  15. foot — a measure
  16. row — a quarrel
  17. land — to come down
  18. race — a contest
  19. row — a line
  20. chest — a box
  21. foot — part of the body
  22. prune — the fruit
  23. chest — of your body
  24. row — to paddle

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