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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.

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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: chest · deal · march · prune · wave · charge · cold · pass

  1. The water is too ________________.
  2. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  3. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  4. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  5. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  6. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  7. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  8. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  9. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  10. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  11. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  12. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  13. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  14. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  17. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  18. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  19. The tickets are free of ________________.
  20. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  21. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  22. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  23. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  24. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. deal — a big deal
  3. march — the month
  4. prune — the fruit
  5. wave — a sudden rise
  6. pass — to succeed
  7. charge — in control
  8. prune — to trim
  9. pass — a permit
  10. march — the month
  11. wave — of the sea
  12. cold — an illness
  13. march — music
  14. chest — a box
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. chest — of your body
  17. charge — electricity
  18. prune — to trim
  19. charge — a price
  20. deal — an agreement
  21. chest — of your body
  22. deal — to handle
  23. pass — to spend time
  24. wave — with your hand

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