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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. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  3. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  4. The water is too ________________.
  5. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  6. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  7. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  8. False peace will not ________________.
  9. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  10. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  11. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  12. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  13. The light ________________ burned out.
  14. I've got to change the light ________________.
  15. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  16. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  17. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  18. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  19. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  20. That must've been a ________________.
  21. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  22. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  23. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  24. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.

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

Answer key

  1. prune — to trim
  2. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  3. last — final
  4. cold — not warm
  5. bulb — of a plant
  6. squash — the sport
  7. tear — from crying
  8. last — to go on
  9. squash — to crush
  10. prune — to trim
  11. kid — child
  12. rush — hurry
  13. bulb — for light
  14. bulb — for light
  15. squash — the vegetable
  16. tear — to rip
  17. kid — to tease
  18. last — finally
  19. cold — the Cold War
  20. rush — a thrill
  21. prune — the fruit
  22. rush — to hurry
  23. tear — from crying
  24. cold — an illness

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