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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 124 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: prune · chair · race · deal · club · cold

  1. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  2. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  3. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  4. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  5. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  6. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  7. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  8. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  9. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  10. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  11. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  12. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  13. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  14. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  15. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  16. The water is too ________________.
  17. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  18. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. deal — an agreement
  2. prune — to trim
  3. club — a group
  4. race — a contest
  5. deal — to handle
  6. cold — an illness
  7. deal — a big deal
  8. race — humankind
  9. chair — to sit on
  10. prune — to trim
  11. chair — a leader
  12. club — for golf
  13. prune — the fruit
  14. cold — the Cold War
  15. race — the arms race
  16. cold — not warm
  17. club — for dancing
  18. chair — a professorship

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