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

  1. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  2. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  3. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  4. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  5. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  6. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  7. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  8. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  9. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  10. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  11. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  12. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  13. The water is too ________________.
  14. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  15. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  16. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  17. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  18. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  19. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  20. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  21. This piece is in a major ________________.
  22. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  23. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  24. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.

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

Answer key

  1. club — for dancing
  2. leaves — of a tree
  3. hand — in cards
  4. club — a group
  5. bore — to tire
  6. stem — of a plant
  7. leaves — lets stay
  8. hand — part of the body
  9. key — the most important part
  10. prune — to trim
  11. key — for a lock
  12. cold — an illness
  13. cold — not warm
  14. leaves — to go away
  15. bore — to drill
  16. hand — help
  17. club — for golf
  18. prune — the fruit
  19. cold — the Cold War
  20. stem — to come from
  21. key — in music
  22. prune — to trim
  23. bore — gave birth
  24. stem — a stem cell

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