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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. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  2. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  3. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  4. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  5. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  6. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  7. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  8. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  9. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  10. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  11. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  12. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  13. What do you think of the new ________________?
  14. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  15. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  16. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  17. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  18. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  19. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  20. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  21. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  22. The ________________ took off on time.
  23. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  24. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. row — a quarrel
  2. prune — to trim
  3. band — a music group
  4. march — music
  5. bat — the animal
  6. plane — in geometry
  7. march — the month
  8. band — a rubber band
  9. bat — in an idiom
  10. march — the month
  11. row — to paddle
  12. cabinet — ministers
  13. cabinet — ministers
  14. row — a line
  15. pit — a fruit stone
  16. plane — a tool
  17. pit — in a race
  18. prune — the fruit
  19. band — a ring
  20. bat — for baseball
  21. pit — a hole
  22. plane — an aircraft
  23. prune — to trim
  24. cabinet — a cupboard

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