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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. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  2. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  5. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  6. The water is too ________________.
  7. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  8. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  9. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  10. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  11. Where did you ________________ them?
  12. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  13. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  14. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  15. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  16. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  17. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  18. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  19. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  20. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  21. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  22. The King held a masked ________________.
  23. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  24. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.

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

Answer key

  1. prune — the fruit
  2. wake — a trail
  3. cold — an illness
  4. mug — a cup
  5. squash — the vegetable
  6. cold — not warm
  7. ball — a round shape
  8. branch — of a bank
  9. cold — the Cold War
  10. wake — before a funeral
  11. mug — to rob
  12. prune — to trim
  13. branch — a division
  14. wake — to stop sleeping
  15. clip — for paper
  16. prune — to trim
  17. clip — to cut
  18. ball — a great time
  19. squash — the sport
  20. clip — a video
  21. mug — a face
  22. ball — a dance
  23. branch — of a tree
  24. squash — to crush

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