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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 116 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. It's one o'clock ________________.
  2. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  3. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  4. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  5. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  6. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  7. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  8. The water is too ________________.
  9. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  10. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  13. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  14. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  15. Have you met the new head ________________?
  16. This piece is in a major ________________.
  17. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  18. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  19. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  20. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  21. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  22. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  23. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  24. A ________________ is just a dried plum.

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

Answer key

  1. sharp — exactly
  2. band — a ring
  3. prune — to trim
  4. hide — to keep secret
  5. shower — to wash
  6. coach — pulled by horses
  7. key — the most important part
  8. cold — not warm
  9. shower — a meteor shower
  10. shower — rain
  11. cold — an illness
  12. prune — to trim
  13. key — for a lock
  14. coach — a trainer
  15. coach — a trainer
  16. key — in music
  17. cold — the Cold War
  18. hide — animal skin
  19. sharp — with an edge
  20. band — a rubber band
  21. sharp — clever
  22. hide — to keep secret
  23. band — a music group
  24. prune — the fruit

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