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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: cold · field · squash · snap · cue · last · prune · pass

  1. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  2. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  3. False peace will not ________________.
  4. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  5. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  6. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  7. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  8. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  9. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  10. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  11. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  12. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  13. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  14. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  15. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. The water is too ________________.
  18. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  19. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  20. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  21. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  22. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  23. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  24. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. last — finally
  2. snap — to snap out of it
  3. last — to go on
  4. snap — to speak sharply
  5. snap — to click
  6. squash — the vegetable
  7. prune — the fruit
  8. field — a subject
  9. pass — to succeed
  10. squash — to crush
  11. cue — a signal
  12. last — final
  13. pass — to spend time
  14. cold — the Cold War
  15. field — for sport
  16. cold — an illness
  17. cold — not warm
  18. cue — for pool
  19. prune — to trim
  20. pass — a permit
  21. prune — to trim
  22. cue — a hint
  23. squash — the sport
  24. field — farmland

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