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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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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: mug · mate · toast · trunk · swing · cold · prune · face

  1. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  2. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  5. David sat on the ________________.
  6. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  7. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  8. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  9. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  10. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  11. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  12. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  13. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  14. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  15. Where did you ________________ them?
  16. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  17. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  18. Have you found your soul ________________?
  19. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  20. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  21. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  22. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  23. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  24. The water is too ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. prune — to trim
  2. mate — a friend
  3. cold — an illness
  4. mug — a cup
  5. swing — to play on
  6. face — to confront
  7. trunk — of an elephant
  8. trunk — of a car
  9. toast — a drink to someone
  10. toast — bread
  11. toast — the most admired
  12. face — part of the head
  13. swing — music
  14. prune — the fruit
  15. mug — to rob
  16. mate — to breed
  17. trunk — of a tree
  18. mate — a partner
  19. swing — in golf
  20. mug — a face
  21. face — to point toward
  22. cold — the Cold War
  23. prune — to trim
  24. cold — not warm

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