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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 116 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. That was a fun ________________.
  2. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  3. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  4. When are we going to ________________?
  5. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  6. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  7. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  8. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  9. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  10. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  11. David sat on the ________________.
  12. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  13. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  14. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  15. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  16. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  17. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  18. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  19. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  20. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  21. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  22. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  23. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  24. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.

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

Answer key

  1. game — a match
  2. staff — a stick
  3. prune — to trim
  4. land — to come down
  5. prune — the fruit
  6. shower — rain
  7. prune — to trim
  8. shower — to wash
  9. staff — employees
  10. cap — of ice
  11. swing — to play on
  12. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  13. shower — a meteor shower
  14. game — wild animals
  15. kid — to tease
  16. land — ground
  17. swing — in golf
  18. cap — a hat
  19. game — a kind of play
  20. kid — child
  21. staff — employees
  22. swing — music
  23. cap — a lid
  24. land — a country

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