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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: mug · kid · fork · march · prune · cold · key · cue

  1. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  2. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  3. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  4. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  5. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  6. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  7. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  8. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  9. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  10. This piece is in a major ________________.
  11. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  12. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  13. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  14. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  15. The water is too ________________.
  16. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  17. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  18. Where did you ________________ them?
  19. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  20. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  21. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  22. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  23. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  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. kid — to tease
  2. prune — to trim
  3. fork — in a road
  4. march — music
  5. cue — a hint
  6. fork — to eat with
  7. key — for a lock
  8. prune — to trim
  9. march — the month
  10. key — in music
  11. mug — a cup
  12. key — the most important part
  13. fork — a garden tool
  14. kid — child
  15. cold — not warm
  16. cue — a signal
  17. cold — the Cold War
  18. mug — to rob
  19. mug — a face
  20. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  21. prune — the fruit
  22. cue — for pool
  23. march — the month
  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