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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: rock · march · cell · cold · kick · club · prune · toast

  1. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  2. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  3. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  4. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  5. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  6. The water is too ________________.
  7. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  8. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  9. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  10. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  11. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  12. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  13. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  14. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  15. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  16. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  17. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  18. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  19. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  20. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  21. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  22. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  23. He was locked up in a ________________.
  24. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!

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

Answer key

  1. toast — the most admired
  2. cold — an illness
  3. cell — in biology
  4. prune — to trim
  5. kick — in football
  6. cold — not warm
  7. march — the month
  8. toast — a drink to someone
  9. club — a group
  10. prune — the fruit
  11. march — the month
  12. rock — music
  13. club — for golf
  14. rock — a stone
  15. kick — a thrill
  16. prune — to trim
  17. kick — with a leg
  18. club — for dancing
  19. march — music
  20. cold — the Cold War
  21. toast — bread
  22. rock — to move gently
  23. cell — in a prison
  24. cell — a phone

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