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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. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  2. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  3. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  4. We're on a ________________ here.
  5. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  6. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  7. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  8. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  9. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  10. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  11. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  12. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  13. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  14. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  15. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  16. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  17. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  18. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  19. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  20. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  21. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  22. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  23. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  24. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. prune — to trim
  2. squash — the vegetable
  3. prune — the fruit
  4. roll — on a roll
  5. squash — the sport
  6. squash — to crush
  7. roll — a cake
  8. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  9. rest — a break
  10. wound — an injury
  11. rest — what's left
  12. wound — past of 'wind'
  13. cap — a hat
  14. roll — a list
  15. rest — what's left
  16. cap — of ice
  17. file — a tool
  18. kid — to tease
  19. file — a document
  20. cap — a lid
  21. wound — an injury
  22. kid — child
  23. prune — to trim
  24. file — a line of people

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