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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. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  2. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  3. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  4. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  5. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  6. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  7. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  8. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  9. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  10. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  11. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  12. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  13. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  14. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  15. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  16. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  17. We're on a ________________ here.
  18. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  19. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  20. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  21. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  22. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  23. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  24. A ________________ is just a dried plum.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — a meteor shower
  2. prune — to trim
  3. shower — to wash
  4. dip — to sink
  5. pass — a permit
  6. squash — the vegetable
  7. dip — to dunk
  8. roll — a cake
  9. bore — gave birth
  10. pass — to succeed
  11. field — for sport
  12. squash — the sport
  13. field — a subject
  14. bore — to tire
  15. shower — rain
  16. squash — to crush
  17. roll — on a roll
  18. roll — a list
  19. prune — to trim
  20. dip — a sauce
  21. bore — to drill
  22. field — farmland
  23. pass — to spend time
  24. prune — the fruit

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