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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. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  3. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  4. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  5. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  6. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  7. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  8. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  9. When are we going to ________________?
  10. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  11. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  12. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  13. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  14. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  15. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  16. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  17. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  18. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  19. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  20. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  21. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  22. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  23. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  24. I had a ________________ with my boss today.

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

Answer key

  1. prune — to trim
  2. pit — a fruit stone
  3. face — to confront
  4. racket — for tennis
  5. land — a country
  6. racket — a loud noise
  7. rock — to move gently
  8. pit — in a race
  9. land — to come down
  10. row — a line
  11. prune — the fruit
  12. land — ground
  13. pit — a hole
  14. rock — music
  15. racket — for tennis
  16. wind — moving air
  17. rock — a stone
  18. wind — to turn a key
  19. face — part of the head
  20. wind — moving air
  21. row — to paddle
  22. face — to point toward
  23. prune — to trim
  24. row — a quarrel

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