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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. The water is too ________________.
  2. Have you found your soul ________________?
  3. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  4. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  5. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  6. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  7. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  8. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  9. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  10. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  11. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  12. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  13. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  14. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  15. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  16. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  17. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  18. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  19. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  20. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  21. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  22. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  23. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  24. Can you turn the ________________ on?

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. mate — a partner
  3. fan — a supporter
  4. cue — a signal
  5. mate — to breed
  6. cold — the Cold War
  7. fan — a supporter
  8. prune — the fruit
  9. pit — in a race
  10. pit — a fruit stone
  11. prune — to trim
  12. fine — all right
  13. prune — to trim
  14. fine — high quality
  15. cue — a hint
  16. pit — a hole
  17. clip — to cut
  18. clip — for paper
  19. clip — a video
  20. fine — a penalty
  21. cold — an illness
  22. cue — for pool
  23. mate — a friend
  24. fan — to cool the air

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