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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. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  2. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  3. The water is too ________________.
  4. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  5. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  6. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  7. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  8. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  9. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  10. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  11. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  12. When was this ________________ built?
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  15. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  16. False peace will not ________________.
  17. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  18. We're on a ________________ here.
  19. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  20. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  21. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  22. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  23. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  24. A ________________ is just a dried plum.

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

Answer key

  1. roll — a cake
  2. temple — a place of worship
  3. cold — not warm
  4. row — a quarrel
  5. last — finally
  6. roll — a list
  7. row — to paddle
  8. prune — to trim
  9. prune — to trim
  10. craft — a handicraft
  11. temple — side of the head
  12. temple — a place of worship
  13. cold — an illness
  14. cold — the Cold War
  15. last — final
  16. last — to go on
  17. rule — a law
  18. roll — on a roll
  19. row — a line
  20. craft — a skill
  21. rule — to rule out
  22. rule — government
  23. craft — boats
  24. prune — the fruit

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