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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. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  2. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  3. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  4. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  5. This piece is in a major ________________.
  6. False peace will not ________________.
  7. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  8. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  9. Have you met the new head ________________?
  10. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  11. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  12. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  13. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  14. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  15. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  16. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  17. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  18. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  19. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  20. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  21. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  22. The water is too ________________.
  23. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  24. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.

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

Answer key

  1. prune — to trim
  2. squash — the sport
  3. kick — with a leg
  4. coach — pulled by horses
  5. key — in music
  6. last — to go on
  7. kick — in football
  8. snap — to click
  9. coach — a trainer
  10. key — for a lock
  11. kick — a thrill
  12. snap — to speak sharply
  13. cold — the Cold War
  14. cold — an illness
  15. prune — the fruit
  16. coach — a trainer
  17. prune — to trim
  18. last — final
  19. squash — to crush
  20. squash — the vegetable
  21. key — the most important part
  22. cold — not warm
  23. last — finally
  24. snap — to snap out of it

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