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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. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  2. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  3. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  4. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  5. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  6. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  7. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  8. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  9. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  10. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  11. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  12. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  13. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  14. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  15. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  16. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  17. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  18. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  19. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  20. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  21. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  22. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  23. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  24. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. object — to protest
  2. wake — before a funeral
  3. mine — belonging to me
  4. shower — a meteor shower
  5. mine — for digging
  6. object — a thing
  7. shower — to wash
  8. cue — a hint
  9. prune — the fruit
  10. bat — in an idiom
  11. prune — to trim
  12. cue — a signal
  13. cue — for pool
  14. row — a quarrel
  15. bat — the animal
  16. wake — to stop sleeping
  17. bat — for baseball
  18. shower — rain
  19. prune — to trim
  20. row — a line
  21. mine — an explosive
  22. wake — a trail
  23. row — to paddle
  24. object — an aim

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