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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. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  2. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  3. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  4. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  5. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  6. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  7. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  8. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  9. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  10. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  11. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  12. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  13. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  14. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  15. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  16. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  17. Have you found your soul ________________?
  18. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  19. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  20. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  21. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  22. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  23. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  24. Don't do anything ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wake — before a funeral
  2. rash — on the skin
  3. hand — in cards
  4. prune — to trim
  5. hand — help
  6. content — happy
  7. cue — for pool
  8. file — a line of people
  9. rash — a series
  10. wake — a trail
  11. mate — to breed
  12. wake — to stop sleeping
  13. mate — a friend
  14. file — a document
  15. file — a tool
  16. prune — to trim
  17. mate — a partner
  18. prune — the fruit
  19. cue — a signal
  20. cue — a hint
  21. content — videos and posts
  22. hand — part of the body
  23. content — the amount
  24. rash — hasty

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