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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. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  3. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  4. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  5. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  6. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  7. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  8. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  9. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  10. He was locked up in a ________________.
  11. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  12. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  13. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  14. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  15. David sat on the ________________.
  16. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  17. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  18. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  19. This piece is in a major ________________.
  20. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  21. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  22. The ________________ took off on time.
  23. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  24. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. prune — to trim
  2. mine — an explosive
  3. cap — a lid
  4. cap — of ice
  5. swing — in golf
  6. swing — music
  7. key — the most important part
  8. cap — a hat
  9. can — a tin
  10. cell — in a prison
  11. can — to be able to
  12. prune — the fruit
  13. cell — a phone
  14. cell — in biology
  15. swing — to play on
  16. mine — belonging to me
  17. key — for a lock
  18. prune — to trim
  19. key — in music
  20. plane — a tool
  21. mine — for digging
  22. plane — an aircraft
  23. can — a tin
  24. plane — in geometry

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