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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. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  3. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  4. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  5. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  6. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  7. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  8. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  9. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  10. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  11. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  12. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  13. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  14. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  15. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  16. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  17. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  18. When was this ________________ built?
  19. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  20. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  21. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  22. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  23. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  24. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.

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

Answer key

  1. prune — to trim
  2. prune — the fruit
  3. face — part of the head
  4. row — a quarrel
  5. temple — a place of worship
  6. face — to point toward
  7. temple — side of the head
  8. wound — an injury
  9. dip — a sauce
  10. kid — child
  11. branch — a division
  12. branch — of a bank
  13. wound — past of 'wind'
  14. prune — to trim
  15. dip — to dunk
  16. wound — an injury
  17. branch — of a tree
  18. temple — a place of worship
  19. face — to confront
  20. kid — to tease
  21. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  22. row — to paddle
  23. row — a line
  24. dip — to sink

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