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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: mug · tear · firm · chest · cold · wave · prune · game

  1. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  2. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  3. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  4. The water is too ________________.
  5. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  6. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  7. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  8. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  9. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  10. Where did you ________________ them?
  11. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  12. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  13. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  14. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  15. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  16. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  17. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  18. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  19. That was a fun ________________.
  20. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  21. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  22. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  23. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  24. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.

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

Answer key

  1. game — wild animals
  2. cold — the Cold War
  3. chest — a box
  4. cold — not warm
  5. game — a kind of play
  6. mug — a face
  7. firm — a company
  8. prune — to trim
  9. prune — the fruit
  10. mug — to rob
  11. tear — from crying
  12. wave — with your hand
  13. tear — to rip
  14. chest — of your body
  15. mug — a cup
  16. firm — steady
  17. chest — of your body
  18. firm — decided
  19. game — a match
  20. wave — of the sea
  21. wave — a sudden rise
  22. cold — an illness
  23. tear — from crying
  24. prune — to trim

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