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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. That must've been a ________________.
  3. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  4. Have you settled on a ________________?
  5. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  6. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  7. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  8. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  9. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  10. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  11. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  12. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  13. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  14. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  15. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  16. Where did you ________________ them?
  17. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  18. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  19. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  20. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  21. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  22. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  23. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  24. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.

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

Answer key

  1. prune — to trim
  2. rush — a thrill
  3. wind — moving air
  4. date — on the calendar
  5. content — the amount
  6. wind — to turn a key
  7. content — videos and posts
  8. prune — the fruit
  9. content — happy
  10. patient — a sick person
  11. date — the fruit
  12. rush — hurry
  13. date — on the calendar
  14. bark — to shout
  15. mug — a cup
  16. mug — to rob
  17. rush — to hurry
  18. bark — of a tree
  19. mug — a face
  20. patient — a sick person
  21. patient — calm and waiting
  22. prune — to trim
  23. bark — a dog's sound
  24. wind — moving air

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