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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. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  2. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  3. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  4. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  5. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  6. The water is too ________________.
  7. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  8. Don't do anything ________________.
  9. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  10. That must've been a ________________.
  11. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  12. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  13. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  14. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  15. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  16. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  17. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  18. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  19. How do you ________________ your surname?
  20. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  21. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  22. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. Do you need a ________________ with that?

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

Answer key

  1. prune — the fruit
  2. spell — a short time
  3. hand — part of the body
  4. degree — from a university
  5. degree — temperature
  6. cold — not warm
  7. prune — to trim
  8. rash — hasty
  9. spell — magic
  10. rush — a thrill
  11. hand — in cards
  12. stick — to attach or keep to
  13. degree — an amount
  14. prune — to trim
  15. rush — to hurry
  16. stick — a piece of wood
  17. rash — a series
  18. stick — a piece of wood
  19. spell — letters
  20. rush — hurry
  21. rash — on the skin
  22. cold — an illness
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. hand — help

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