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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. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  3. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  4. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  5. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  6. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  7. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  8. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  9. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  10. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  11. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  12. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  13. The water is too ________________.
  14. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  15. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  16. David sat on the ________________.
  17. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  18. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  19. That was ________________ to happen.
  20. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  21. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  22. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  23. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  24. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.

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

Answer key

  1. prune — to trim
  2. swing — music
  3. bound — obliged
  4. stem — a stem cell
  5. stem — of a plant
  6. cold — the Cold War
  7. toast — the most admired
  8. mine — for digging
  9. mine — an explosive
  10. prune — to trim
  11. bound — tied together
  12. cold — an illness
  13. cold — not warm
  14. mine — belonging to me
  15. march — music
  16. swing — to play on
  17. march — the month
  18. swing — in golf
  19. bound — certain
  20. prune — the fruit
  21. stem — to come from
  22. toast — bread
  23. march — the month
  24. toast — a drink to someone

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