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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. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  2. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  3. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  4. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  5. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  6. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  7. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  8. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  9. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  10. False peace will not ________________.
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  13. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  14. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  15. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  16. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  17. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  18. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  19. That was ________________ to happen.
  20. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  21. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  22. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  23. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  24. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?

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

Answer key

  1. bound — tied together
  2. fan — a supporter
  3. prune — to trim
  4. pit — a fruit stone
  5. cold — the Cold War
  6. pit — a hole
  7. prune — to trim
  8. stem — a stem cell
  9. last — final
  10. last — to go on
  11. cold — not warm
  12. club — for golf
  13. stem — to come from
  14. stem — of a plant
  15. club — for dancing
  16. club — a group
  17. pit — in a race
  18. prune — the fruit
  19. bound — certain
  20. cold — an illness
  21. bound — obliged
  22. fan — to cool the air
  23. last — finally
  24. fan — a supporter

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