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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. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  2. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  3. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  4. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  5. When are we going to ________________?
  6. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  7. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  8. He was locked up in a ________________.
  9. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  10. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  11. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  12. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  13. She's very handy with a ________________.
  14. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  15. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  16. He works in a ________________ mill.
  17. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  18. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  19. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  20. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  21. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  22. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  23. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  24. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!

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

Answer key

  1. wake — to stop sleeping
  2. deal — a big deal
  3. deal — to handle
  4. land — a country
  5. land — to come down
  6. prune — to trim
  7. net — for catching
  8. cell — in a prison
  9. lash — to lash out
  10. net — after costs
  11. prune — to trim
  12. saw — past of 'see'
  13. saw — the tool
  14. prune — the fruit
  15. land — ground
  16. saw — the tool
  17. net — in sport
  18. lash — an eyelash
  19. lash — a whip stroke
  20. deal — an agreement
  21. wake — a trail
  22. cell — in biology
  23. wake — before a funeral
  24. cell — a phone

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