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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.

Make a worksheet

Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

Words on the sheet
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Word bank
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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: cold · prune · scale · mine · rush · wake

  1. The water is too ________________.
  2. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  3. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  4. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  5. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  6. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  7. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  8. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  9. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  10. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  11. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  12. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  13. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  14. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  15. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  16. That must've been a ________________.
  17. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  18. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. prune — to trim
  3. rush — hurry
  4. prune — to trim
  5. wake — a trail
  6. scale — for weighing
  7. cold — an illness
  8. mine — an explosive
  9. wake — before a funeral
  10. cold — the Cold War
  11. scale — size or range
  12. mine — belonging to me
  13. rush — to hurry
  14. prune — the fruit
  15. wake — to stop sleeping
  16. rush — a thrill
  17. mine — for digging
  18. scale — in music

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