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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 in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. The water is too ________________.
  2. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  3. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  4. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  5. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  6. How do you ________________ your surname?
  7. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  8. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  9. I'll be taking the ________________.
  10. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  11. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  12. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  13. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  14. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  15. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  16. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  17. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  18. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  19. This piece is in a major ________________.
  20. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  21. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  22. Where did you ________________ them?
  23. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  24. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. prune — to trim
  3. wake — to stop sleeping
  4. mug — a cup
  5. cold — the Cold War
  6. spell — letters
  7. race — a contest
  8. key — for a lock
  9. tube — the underground
  10. cold — an illness
  11. key — the most important part
  12. mug — a face
  13. prune — to trim
  14. tube — a container
  15. race — humankind
  16. wake — a trail
  17. spell — a short time
  18. wake — before a funeral
  19. key — in music
  20. race — the arms race
  21. tube — in a tire
  22. mug — to rob
  23. prune — the fruit
  24. spell — magic

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