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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. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  2. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  3. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  4. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  5. That was a fun ________________.
  6. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  7. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  8. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  9. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  10. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  11. Have you found your soul ________________?
  12. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  13. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  14. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  15. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  16. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  17. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  18. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  19. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  20. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  21. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  22. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  23. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  24. We had a fire ________________ at school today.

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

Answer key

  1. hide — to keep secret
  2. prune — the fruit
  3. game — a kind of play
  4. mate — a friend
  5. game — a match
  6. net — after costs
  7. prune — to trim
  8. squash — the sport
  9. drill — army training
  10. spring — the season
  11. mate — a partner
  12. net — in sport
  13. squash — the vegetable
  14. spring — a coil
  15. hide — to keep secret
  16. mate — to breed
  17. game — wild animals
  18. net — for catching
  19. spring — of water
  20. squash — to crush
  21. hide — animal skin
  22. prune — to trim
  23. drill — the tool
  24. drill — a practice

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