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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. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  2. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  3. He was locked up in a ________________.
  4. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  5. David sat on the ________________.
  6. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  7. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  8. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  9. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  10. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  11. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  12. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  13. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  14. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  15. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  16. That was a fun ________________.
  17. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  18. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  19. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  20. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  21. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  22. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  23. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  24. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.

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

Answer key

  1. prune — the fruit
  2. band — a ring
  3. cell — in a prison
  4. swing — music
  5. swing — to play on
  6. face — part of the head
  7. cell — in biology
  8. face — to confront
  9. prune — to trim
  10. kid — child
  11. game — a kind of play
  12. deal — a big deal
  13. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  14. deal — to handle
  15. kid — to tease
  16. game — a match
  17. swing — in golf
  18. face — to point toward
  19. cell — a phone
  20. prune — to trim
  21. band — a music group
  22. deal — an agreement
  23. game — wild animals
  24. band — a rubber band

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