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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 120 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 cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  2. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  3. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  4. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  5. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  6. The ball is in your ________________.
  7. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  8. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  9. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  10. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  11. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  12. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  13. That was a fun ________________.
  14. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  15. What do you think of the new ________________?
  16. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  17. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  18. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  19. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  20. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  21. Don't do anything ________________.
  22. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  23. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  24. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.

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

Answer key

  1. prune — to trim
  2. can — a tin
  3. prune — the fruit
  4. wind — to turn a key
  5. can — a tin
  6. court — for sport
  7. court — of a king
  8. can — to be able to
  9. rash — on the skin
  10. rash — a series
  11. fall — the season
  12. game — wild animals
  13. game — a match
  14. fall — to drop
  15. cabinet — ministers
  16. cabinet — ministers
  17. wind — moving air
  18. fall — to drop
  19. wind — moving air
  20. cabinet — a cupboard
  21. rash — hasty
  22. game — a kind of play
  23. court — of law
  24. prune — to trim

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