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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. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  2. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  3. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  4. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  5. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  6. It's one o'clock ________________.
  7. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  8. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  9. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  10. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  11. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  12. When are we going to ________________?
  13. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  14. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  15. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  16. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  17. My mare is ________________ in color.
  18. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  19. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  20. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  21. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  22. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  23. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  24. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.

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

Answer key

  1. prune — to trim
  2. sharp — clever
  3. rule — to rule out
  4. snap — to snap out of it
  5. snap — to click
  6. sharp — exactly
  7. straw — a straw man
  8. snap — to speak sharply
  9. straw — to clutch at straws
  10. patient — a sick person
  11. patient — a sick person
  12. land — to come down
  13. straw — dry grass
  14. land — ground
  15. bay — to keep at bay
  16. rule — government
  17. bay — a horse colour
  18. land — a country
  19. prune — to trim
  20. prune — the fruit
  21. rule — a law
  22. sharp — with an edge
  23. bay — a part of the sea
  24. patient — calm and waiting

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