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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: land · ruler · row · bank · cell · cold · dip · prune

  1. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  2. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  3. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  4. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  5. He was locked up in a ________________.
  6. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  9. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  10. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  11. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  12. When are we going to ________________?
  13. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  14. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  15. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  16. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  17. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  18. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  19. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  20. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  21. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  22. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  23. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  24. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. prune — to trim
  2. cold — an illness
  3. ruler — a monarch
  4. dip — to dunk
  5. cell — in a prison
  6. prune — to trim
  7. cold — not warm
  8. bank — for money
  9. cell — in biology
  10. bank — for money
  11. bank — of a river
  12. land — to come down
  13. row — to paddle
  14. row — a quarrel
  15. dip — to sink
  16. row — a line
  17. prune — the fruit
  18. ruler — for measuring
  19. dip — a sauce
  20. ruler — for measuring
  21. cold — the Cold War
  22. land — a country
  23. cell — a phone
  24. land — ground

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