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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 muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  2. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  3. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  4. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  5. You don't need to ________________ round.
  6. Don't do anything ________________.
  7. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  8. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  9. The water is too ________________.
  10. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  11. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  12. We're almost out of ________________.
  13. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  14. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  15. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  16. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  17. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  18. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  19. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  20. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  21. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  22. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  23. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  24. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.

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

Answer key

  1. track — a path
  2. squash — the vegetable
  3. prune — to trim
  4. current — of water
  5. pop — to visit
  6. rash — hasty
  7. track — a song
  8. cold — an illness
  9. cold — not warm
  10. squash — the sport
  11. cold — the Cold War
  12. pop — soda
  13. prune — to trim
  14. rash — a series
  15. can — a tin
  16. prune — the fruit
  17. can — a tin
  18. current — happening now
  19. rash — on the skin
  20. track — to keep track
  21. current — electric
  22. can — to be able to
  23. squash — to crush
  24. pop — music

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