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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 · calf · game · fine · date · spring · cold · prune

  1. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  2. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  3. Where did you ________________ them?
  4. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  5. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  6. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  7. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  8. The water is too ________________.
  9. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  10. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  11. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  12. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  13. Have you settled on a ________________?
  14. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  15. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  16. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  17. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  18. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  19. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  20. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  21. That was a fun ________________.
  22. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  23. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  24. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.

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

Answer key

  1. prune — the fruit
  2. game — wild animals
  3. mug — to rob
  4. calf — a young animal
  5. calf — of the leg
  6. mug — a cup
  7. spring — of water
  8. cold — not warm
  9. prune — to trim
  10. date — the fruit
  11. fine — all right
  12. prune — to trim
  13. date — on the calendar
  14. date — on the calendar
  15. cold — an illness
  16. spring — a coil
  17. spring — the season
  18. mug — a face
  19. game — a kind of play
  20. fine — a penalty
  21. game — a match
  22. cold — the Cold War
  23. calf — a young animal
  24. fine — high quality

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