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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 120 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: shower · lie · rest · squash · land · ball · scale · prune

  1. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  2. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  3. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  4. The King held a masked ________________.
  5. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  6. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  7. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  8. When are we going to ________________?
  9. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  10. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  11. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  12. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  13. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  14. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  15. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  16. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  17. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  18. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  19. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  20. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  21. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  22. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  23. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  24. He's taking a ________________ right now.

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

Answer key

  1. scale — in music
  2. lie — an untruth
  3. prune — to trim
  4. ball — a dance
  5. lie — to recline
  6. squash — the sport
  7. squash — to crush
  8. land — to come down
  9. squash — the vegetable
  10. prune — to trim
  11. scale — for weighing
  12. land — ground
  13. scale — size or range
  14. ball — a great time
  15. rest — what's left
  16. rest — a break
  17. ball — a round shape
  18. shower — rain
  19. prune — the fruit
  20. lie — an untruth
  21. shower — a meteor shower
  22. rest — what's left
  23. land — a country
  24. shower — to wash

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