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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. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  2. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  3. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  4. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  5. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  6. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  7. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  8. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  9. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  10. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  11. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  12. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  13. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  14. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  15. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  16. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  17. That must've been a ________________.
  18. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  19. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  20. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  21. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  22. The water is too ________________.
  23. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  24. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.

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

Answer key

  1. prune — the fruit
  2. pit — a fruit stone
  3. march — music
  4. row — to paddle
  5. prune — to trim
  6. pound — to hit hard
  7. cold — the Cold War
  8. degree — from a university
  9. rush — to hurry
  10. cold — an illness
  11. rush — hurry
  12. pound — a weight
  13. pit — in a race
  14. pit — a hole
  15. degree — an amount
  16. row — a line
  17. rush — a thrill
  18. march — the month
  19. march — the month
  20. degree — temperature
  21. row — a quarrel
  22. cold — not warm
  23. prune — to trim
  24. pound — for dogs

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