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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. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  2. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  3. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  4. False peace will not ________________.
  5. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  6. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  7. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  8. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  9. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  10. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  11. You don't need to ________________ round.
  12. We're almost out of ________________.
  13. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  14. The ________________ took off on time.
  15. The water is too ________________.
  16. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  17. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  18. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  19. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  20. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  21. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  22. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  23. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  24. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — the Cold War
  2. prune — to trim
  3. prune — the fruit
  4. last — to go on
  5. firm — decided
  6. lie — an untruth
  7. prune — to trim
  8. lie — an untruth
  9. row — to paddle
  10. last — final
  11. pop — to visit
  12. pop — soda
  13. firm — steady
  14. plane — an aircraft
  15. cold — not warm
  16. row — a quarrel
  17. plane — in geometry
  18. last — finally
  19. plane — a tool
  20. row — a line
  21. cold — an illness
  22. firm — a company
  23. pop — music
  24. lie — to recline

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