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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 120 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: leaves · degree · cold · prune · hide · cue · calf · bay

  1. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  2. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  3. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  4. My mare is ________________ in color.
  5. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  6. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  7. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  8. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  9. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  10. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  13. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  14. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  15. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  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. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  19. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  20. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  21. The water is too ________________.
  22. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  23. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  24. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.

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

Answer key

  1. prune — to trim
  2. cue — a hint
  3. hide — to keep secret
  4. bay — a horse colour
  5. leaves — of a tree
  6. calf — of the leg
  7. degree — an amount
  8. hide — animal skin
  9. degree — temperature
  10. leaves — to go away
  11. cold — an illness
  12. cue — for pool
  13. prune — the fruit
  14. bay — a part of the sea
  15. calf — a young animal
  16. cue — a signal
  17. cold — the Cold War
  18. calf — a young animal
  19. degree — from a university
  20. prune — to trim
  21. cold — not warm
  22. hide — to keep secret
  23. bay — to keep at bay
  24. leaves — lets stay

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