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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: fall · band · pop · prune · cue · cap · cold · pitcher

  1. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  2. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  3. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  4. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  5. We're almost out of ________________.
  6. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  7. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  8. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  9. The water is too ________________.
  10. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  11. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  12. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  13. You don't need to ________________ round.
  14. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  15. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  16. He is an ace ________________.
  17. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  18. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  19. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  20. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  21. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  22. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  23. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  24. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — an illness
  2. pitcher — a jug
  3. pitcher — a jug
  4. band — a music group
  5. pop — soda
  6. cue — a signal
  7. band — a rubber band
  8. cue — a hint
  9. cold — not warm
  10. cap — a lid
  11. fall — to drop
  12. prune — the fruit
  13. pop — to visit
  14. cap — a hat
  15. fall — to drop
  16. pitcher — in baseball
  17. band — a ring
  18. fall — the season
  19. prune — to trim
  20. cap — of ice
  21. cold — the Cold War
  22. prune — to trim
  23. pop — music
  24. cue — for pool

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