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

Word bank: club · prune · rest · bay · cell · mate · shower · cold

  1. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  2. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  3. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  4. Have you found your soul ________________?
  5. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  6. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  7. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  8. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  9. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  10. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  11. My mare is ________________ in color.
  12. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  13. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  14. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  15. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  16. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  17. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  18. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  19. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  20. The water is too ________________.
  21. He was locked up in a ________________.
  22. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  23. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  24. We took cover from the thunder ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — an illness
  2. cell — in biology
  3. prune — to trim
  4. mate — a partner
  5. rest — what's left
  6. club — for golf
  7. shower — to wash
  8. mate — to breed
  9. club — a group
  10. shower — a meteor shower
  11. bay — a horse colour
  12. prune — the fruit
  13. cold — the Cold War
  14. rest — what's left
  15. club — for dancing
  16. cell — a phone
  17. rest — a break
  18. mate — a friend
  19. bay — to keep at bay
  20. cold — not warm
  21. cell — in a prison
  22. bay — a part of the sea
  23. prune — to trim
  24. shower — rain

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