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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 ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  2. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  3. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  4. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  5. You don't need to ________________ round.
  6. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  7. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  8. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  9. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  10. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  11. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  12. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  13. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  14. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  15. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  16. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  17. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  18. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  19. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  20. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  21. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  22. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  23. We're almost out of ________________.
  24. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.

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

Answer key

  1. dip — a sauce
  2. prune — to trim
  3. calf — a young animal
  4. mine — for digging
  5. pop — to visit
  6. pop — music
  7. mine — an explosive
  8. dip — to dunk
  9. calf — a young animal
  10. face — to confront
  11. face — to point toward
  12. straw — dry grass
  13. squash — to crush
  14. calf — of the leg
  15. straw — a straw man
  16. squash — the sport
  17. mine — belonging to me
  18. squash — the vegetable
  19. dip — to sink
  20. prune — the fruit
  21. face — part of the head
  22. straw — to clutch at straws
  23. pop — soda
  24. prune — to trim

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