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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 116 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. He is an ace ________________.
  2. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  3. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  4. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  5. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  6. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  9. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  10. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  11. What do you think of the new ________________?
  12. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  13. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  14. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  15. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  16. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  17. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  18. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  19. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  20. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  21. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  22. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  23. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  24. Fill up this ________________ with water.

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

Answer key

  1. pitcher — in baseball
  2. prune — to trim
  3. dip — a sauce
  4. prune — the fruit
  5. row — a line
  6. dip — to sink
  7. cold — not warm
  8. cabinet — a cupboard
  9. row — to paddle
  10. cabinet — ministers
  11. cabinet — ministers
  12. branch — of a bank
  13. cold — the Cold War
  14. shower — a meteor shower
  15. branch — a division
  16. shower — to wash
  17. prune — to trim
  18. cold — an illness
  19. pitcher — a jug
  20. shower — rain
  21. dip — to dunk
  22. row — a quarrel
  23. branch — of a tree
  24. pitcher — a jug

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