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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. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  3. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  4. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  5. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  6. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  7. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  8. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  9. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  10. That must've been a ________________.
  11. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  12. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  13. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  14. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  15. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  16. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  17. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  18. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  19. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  20. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  21. He was locked up in a ________________.
  22. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  23. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  24. He took the fish out of the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. prune — to trim
  2. net — in sport
  3. fine — all right
  4. track — a song
  5. object — to protest
  6. rush — hurry
  7. cell — a phone
  8. wind — moving air
  9. prune — the fruit
  10. rush — a thrill
  11. cell — in biology
  12. rush — to hurry
  13. object — an aim
  14. fine — high quality
  15. track — to keep track
  16. object — a thing
  17. wind — moving air
  18. net — after costs
  19. fine — a penalty
  20. wind — to turn a key
  21. cell — in a prison
  22. track — a path
  23. prune — to trim
  24. net — for catching

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