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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. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  2. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  3. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  4. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  7. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  8. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  9. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  10. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  11. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  12. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  13. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  14. This piece is in a major ________________.
  15. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  16. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  17. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  18. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  19. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  20. The water is too ________________.
  21. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  22. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  23. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  24. Hard work is the ________________ to success.

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

Answer key

  1. mark — a trace
  2. spring — the season
  3. prune — the fruit
  4. prune — to trim
  5. cold — an illness
  6. fork — in a road
  7. spring — a coil
  8. squash — the sport
  9. mark — to pay attention
  10. cold — the Cold War
  11. degree — from a university
  12. squash — to crush
  13. prune — to trim
  14. key — in music
  15. spring — of water
  16. mark — a grade
  17. degree — temperature
  18. key — for a lock
  19. degree — an amount
  20. cold — not warm
  21. fork — to eat with
  22. squash — the vegetable
  23. fork — a garden tool
  24. key — the most important part

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