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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. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  2. Did you ________________ the meat?
  3. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  4. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  5. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  6. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  7. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  8. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  9. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  10. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  11. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  12. The water is too ________________.
  13. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  14. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  15. He is an ace ________________.
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  18. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  19. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  20. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  21. That must've been a ________________.
  22. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  23. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  24. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. season — of the year
  2. season — to add flavour
  3. pitcher — a jug
  4. kid — child
  5. content — happy
  6. kid — to tease
  7. content — the amount
  8. prune — the fruit
  9. rush — hurry
  10. season — in sport
  11. vault — in gymnastics
  12. cold — not warm
  13. prune — to trim
  14. content — videos and posts
  15. pitcher — in baseball
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  18. vault — an arched ceiling
  19. cold — an illness
  20. pitcher — a jug
  21. rush — a thrill
  22. rush — to hurry
  23. prune — to trim
  24. vault — a safe

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