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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. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  2. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  3. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  4. The ________________ took off on time.
  5. I'll be taking the ________________.
  6. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  7. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  8. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  9. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  10. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  11. The ________________ went through the wall.
  12. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  13. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  14. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  15. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  16. The ball is in your ________________.
  17. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  18. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  19. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  20. The water is too ________________.
  21. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  22. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  23. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  24. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.

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

Answer key

  1. prune — to trim
  2. plane — in geometry
  3. tube — a container
  4. plane — an aircraft
  5. tube — the underground
  6. prune — to trim
  7. pit — a fruit stone
  8. plane — a tool
  9. pit — a hole
  10. straw — dry grass
  11. nail — for a hammer
  12. nail — for a hammer
  13. court — of law
  14. pit — in a race
  15. court — of a king
  16. court — for sport
  17. tube — in a tire
  18. straw — a straw man
  19. straw — to clutch at straws
  20. cold — not warm
  21. prune — the fruit
  22. cold — the Cold War
  23. nail — on a finger
  24. cold — an illness

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