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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. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  3. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  4. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  5. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  6. That was a fun ________________.
  7. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  8. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  9. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  10. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  11. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  12. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  13. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  14. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  15. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  16. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  17. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  18. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  19. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  20. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  21. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  22. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  23. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  24. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. prune — the fruit
  2. stick — a piece of wood
  3. hand — in cards
  4. rule — a law
  5. track — to keep track
  6. game — a match
  7. track — a song
  8. rule — to rule out
  9. patient — calm and waiting
  10. prune — to trim
  11. prune — to trim
  12. game — a kind of play
  13. hand — help
  14. game — wild animals
  15. patient — a sick person
  16. shower — a meteor shower
  17. patient — a sick person
  18. rule — government
  19. hand — part of the body
  20. shower — to wash
  21. shower — rain
  22. stick — to attach or keep to
  23. track — a path
  24. stick — a piece of wood

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