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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 116 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. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  2. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  3. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  4. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  5. Where did you ________________ them?
  6. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  7. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  8. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  9. He was locked up in a ________________.
  10. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  11. The tickets are free of ________________.
  12. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  13. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  14. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  15. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  16. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  17. The water is too ________________.
  18. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  19. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  20. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  21. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  22. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  23. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  24. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.

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

Answer key

  1. prune — to trim
  2. trunk — of an elephant
  3. charge — electricity
  4. mug — a cup
  5. mug — to rob
  6. cell — a phone
  7. trunk — of a car
  8. cold — an illness
  9. cell — in a prison
  10. prune — the fruit
  11. charge — a price
  12. mine — belonging to me
  13. trunk — of a tree
  14. object — to protest
  15. cell — in biology
  16. object — a thing
  17. cold — not warm
  18. prune — to trim
  19. mine — for digging
  20. charge — in control
  21. mug — a face
  22. object — an aim
  23. mine — an explosive
  24. cold — the Cold War

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