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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. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  2. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  3. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  4. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  5. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  6. When are we going to ________________?
  7. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  8. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  9. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  10. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  11. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  12. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  13. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  14. The water is too ________________.
  15. He was locked up in a ________________.
  16. That must've been a ________________.
  17. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  18. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  19. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  20. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  21. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  22. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  23. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  24. I'd like to play a game of ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. firm — decided
  2. prune — the fruit
  3. cell — a phone
  4. prune — to trim
  5. leaves — of a tree
  6. land — to come down
  7. cell — in biology
  8. squash — the vegetable
  9. firm — a company
  10. prune — to trim
  11. rush — hurry
  12. land — ground
  13. leaves — lets stay
  14. cold — not warm
  15. cell — in a prison
  16. rush — a thrill
  17. squash — to crush
  18. leaves — to go away
  19. firm — steady
  20. cold — an illness
  21. cold — the Cold War
  22. land — a country
  23. rush — to hurry
  24. squash — the sport

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