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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. The water is too ________________.
  2. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  3. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  4. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  5. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  6. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  7. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  8. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  9. That was a fun ________________.
  10. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  11. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  12. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  13. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  14. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  15. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  16. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  17. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  18. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  19. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  20. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  21. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  22. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  23. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  24. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. trunk — of a tree
  3. pass — a permit
  4. prune — the fruit
  5. prune — to trim
  6. vault — an arched ceiling
  7. trunk — of an elephant
  8. lash — a whip stroke
  9. game — a match
  10. cold — an illness
  11. game — a kind of play
  12. lash — an eyelash
  13. lash — to lash out
  14. vault — a safe
  15. pass — to spend time
  16. patient — calm and waiting
  17. prune — to trim
  18. trunk — of a car
  19. cold — the Cold War
  20. patient — a sick person
  21. pass — to succeed
  22. game — wild animals
  23. patient — a sick person
  24. vault — in gymnastics

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