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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 want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  2. I'll be taking the ________________.
  3. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  4. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  5. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  6. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  7. That was a fun ________________.
  8. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  9. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  10. That must've been a ________________.
  11. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  12. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  13. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  14. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  15. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  16. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  17. My father caught me by the ________________.
  18. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  19. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  20. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  21. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  22. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  23. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  24. The water is too ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. tube — a container
  2. tube — the underground
  3. prune — the fruit
  4. arm — part of the body
  5. game — a kind of play
  6. prune — to trim
  7. game — a match
  8. tear — from crying
  9. rush — hurry
  10. rush — a thrill
  11. net — in sport
  12. cold — the Cold War
  13. tear — from crying
  14. cold — an illness
  15. net — for catching
  16. game — wild animals
  17. arm — part of the body
  18. net — after costs
  19. tear — to rip
  20. tube — in a tire
  21. rush — to hurry
  22. arm — a part of something
  23. prune — to trim
  24. cold — not warm

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