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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: hand · cue · wind · stand · pass · track · prune · cold

  1. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  2. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  3. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  4. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  5. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  6. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  7. I can't ________________ this cold.
  8. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  9. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  10. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  11. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  12. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  13. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  14. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  15. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  16. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  17. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  18. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  19. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  20. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  21. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  22. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  23. The water is too ________________.
  24. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.

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

Answer key

  1. prune — to trim
  2. prune — to trim
  3. prune — the fruit
  4. hand — help
  5. wind — moving air
  6. track — a song
  7. stand — to bear
  8. cue — a signal
  9. wind — to turn a key
  10. hand — part of the body
  11. pass — a permit
  12. track — a path
  13. track — to keep track
  14. cue — for pool
  15. wind — moving air
  16. stand — for spectators
  17. cue — a hint
  18. pass — to succeed
  19. cold — the Cold War
  20. pass — to spend time
  21. stand — on your feet
  22. hand — in cards
  23. cold — not warm
  24. cold — an illness

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