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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 120 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. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  3. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  4. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  5. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  6. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  7. He works in a ________________ mill.
  8. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  9. When are we going to ________________?
  10. She's very handy with a ________________.
  11. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  12. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  13. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  14. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  15. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  16. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  17. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  18. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  19. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  20. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  21. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  22. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  23. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  24. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.

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

Answer key

  1. prune — the fruit
  2. prune — to trim
  3. shower — a meteor shower
  4. pass — to succeed
  5. shower — to wash
  6. row — a line
  7. saw — the tool
  8. pass — a permit
  9. land — to come down
  10. saw — the tool
  11. shower — rain
  12. pass — to spend time
  13. prune — to trim
  14. row — a quarrel
  15. land — a country
  16. straw — dry grass
  17. row — to paddle
  18. branch — of a bank
  19. straw — to clutch at straws
  20. branch — of a tree
  21. land — ground
  22. straw — a straw man
  23. branch — a division
  24. saw — past of 'see'

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