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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. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  2. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  3. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  4. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  5. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  6. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  7. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  8. This piece is in a major ________________.
  9. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  10. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  11. David sat on the ________________.
  12. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  13. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  14. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  15. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  16. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  17. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  18. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  19. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  20. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  21. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  22. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  23. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  24. We have nothing to ________________ here.

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

Answer key

  1. prune — to trim
  2. wind — to turn a key
  3. wind — moving air
  4. wind — moving air
  5. scale — size or range
  6. spring — a coil
  7. spring — the season
  8. key — in music
  9. hide — animal skin
  10. spring — of water
  11. swing — to play on
  12. prune — the fruit
  13. prune — to trim
  14. swing — in golf
  15. bear — the animal
  16. hide — to keep secret
  17. bear — to put up with
  18. swing — music
  19. key — for a lock
  20. key — the most important part
  21. scale — for weighing
  22. scale — in music
  23. bear — the animal
  24. hide — to keep secret

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