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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.

Words on the sheet
468
Word bank
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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: mate · cold · face · fall · saw · court · prune · pitcher

  1. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  2. He works in a ________________ mill.
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  5. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  6. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  7. She's very handy with a ________________.
  8. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  9. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  10. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  11. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  12. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  13. The water is too ________________.
  14. The ball is in your ________________.
  15. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  16. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  17. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  18. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  19. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  20. Have you found your soul ________________?
  21. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  22. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  23. He is an ace ________________.
  24. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?

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

Answer key

  1. fall — to drop
  2. saw — the tool
  3. cold — an illness
  4. mate — to breed
  5. face — to point toward
  6. prune — to trim
  7. saw — the tool
  8. fall — to drop
  9. court — of law
  10. face — part of the head
  11. pitcher — a jug
  12. prune — the fruit
  13. cold — not warm
  14. court — for sport
  15. face — to confront
  16. prune — to trim
  17. saw — past of 'see'
  18. cold — the Cold War
  19. court — of a king
  20. mate — a partner
  21. fall — the season
  22. pitcher — a jug
  23. pitcher — in baseball
  24. mate — a friend

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