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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. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  2. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  3. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  4. When was this ________________ built?
  5. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  6. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  7. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  8. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  9. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  10. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  11. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  12. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  13. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  14. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  15. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  16. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  17. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  18. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  19. The water is too ________________.
  20. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  21. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  22. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  23. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  24. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.

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

Answer key

  1. hide — to keep secret
  2. prune — to trim
  3. hide — to keep secret
  4. temple — a place of worship
  5. straw — a straw man
  6. cold — an illness
  7. prune — the fruit
  8. straw — dry grass
  9. craft — boats
  10. temple — side of the head
  11. craft — a skill
  12. hide — animal skin
  13. branch — of a tree
  14. cold — the Cold War
  15. march — music
  16. prune — to trim
  17. march — the month
  18. march — the month
  19. cold — not warm
  20. branch — of a bank
  21. branch — a division
  22. straw — to clutch at straws
  23. temple — a place of worship
  24. craft — a handicraft

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