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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. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  2. The King held a masked ________________.
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  5. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  6. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  7. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  8. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  9. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  10. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  11. You don't need to ________________ round.
  12. The water is too ________________.
  13. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  14. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  15. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  16. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  17. False peace will not ________________.
  18. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  19. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  20. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  21. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  22. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  23. We're almost out of ________________.
  24. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.

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

Answer key

  1. last — final
  2. ball — a dance
  3. cold — an illness
  4. prune — the fruit
  5. ball — a great time
  6. pop — music
  7. hand — part of the body
  8. pass — to succeed
  9. prune — to trim
  10. ball — a round shape
  11. pop — to visit
  12. cold — not warm
  13. last — finally
  14. cold — the Cold War
  15. cue — a signal
  16. hand — help
  17. last — to go on
  18. cue — a hint
  19. hand — in cards
  20. prune — to trim
  21. pass — a permit
  22. pass — to spend time
  23. pop — soda
  24. cue — for pool

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