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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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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: mate · cold · court · prune · face · cap · pop · key

  1. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  2. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  3. We're almost out of ________________.
  4. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  5. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  6. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  7. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  8. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  9. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  10. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  11. You don't need to ________________ round.
  12. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  13. The water is too ________________.
  14. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  15. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  16. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  17. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  18. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  19. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  20. Have you found your soul ________________?
  21. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  22. This piece is in a major ________________.
  23. The ball is in your ________________.
  24. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.

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. pop — soda
  4. court — of a king
  5. mate — a friend
  6. cold — an illness
  7. court — of law
  8. prune — the fruit
  9. cap — of ice
  10. pop — music
  11. pop — to visit
  12. mate — to breed
  13. cold — not warm
  14. face — part of the head
  15. face — to confront
  16. cap — a hat
  17. cold — the Cold War
  18. key — for a lock
  19. key — the most important part
  20. mate — a partner
  21. cap — a lid
  22. key — in music
  23. court — for sport
  24. face — to point toward

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