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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. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  2. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  3. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  4. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  5. The water is too ________________.
  6. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  7. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  8. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  9. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  10. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  11. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  12. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  13. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  14. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  15. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  16. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  17. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  18. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  19. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  20. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  21. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  22. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. stick — a piece of wood
  2. prune — to trim
  3. prune — the fruit
  4. prune — to trim
  5. cold — not warm
  6. file — a tool
  7. pound — a weight
  8. file — a document
  9. rule — government
  10. wax — for sculpting
  11. stick — to attach or keep to
  12. rule — to rule out
  13. pound — to hit hard
  14. wax — to grow
  15. stick — a piece of wood
  16. wax — in the ear
  17. file — a line of people
  18. rule — a law
  19. perch — for a bird
  20. pound — for dogs
  21. cold — an illness
  22. perch — the fish
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. perch — for a bird

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