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

Word bank: pass · last · cold · rock · file · prune

  1. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  2. The water is too ________________.
  3. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  4. False peace will not ________________.
  5. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  6. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  7. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  8. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  9. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  10. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  11. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  12. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  13. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  14. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  15. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  16. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  17. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  18. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.

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

Answer key

  1. last — final
  2. cold — not warm
  3. rock — a stone
  4. last — to go on
  5. last — finally
  6. pass — a permit
  7. file — a tool
  8. prune — to trim
  9. rock — music
  10. pass — to succeed
  11. prune — the fruit
  12. cold — an illness
  13. rock — to move gently
  14. cold — the Cold War
  15. file — a line of people
  16. file — a document
  17. prune — to trim
  18. pass — to spend time

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