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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.

Words on the sheet
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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: cold · ball · prune · chair · clip · nail · calf · rush

  1. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  2. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  3. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  4. That must've been a ________________.
  5. The water is too ________________.
  6. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  7. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  8. The King held a masked ________________.
  9. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  10. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  11. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  12. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  13. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  14. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  15. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  16. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  17. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  18. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  19. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  20. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  21. The ________________ went through the wall.
  22. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  23. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  24. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — the Cold War
  2. prune — to trim
  3. rush — to hurry
  4. rush — a thrill
  5. cold — not warm
  6. ball — a round shape
  7. chair — to sit on
  8. ball — a dance
  9. rush — hurry
  10. nail — for a hammer
  11. clip — to cut
  12. nail — on a finger
  13. calf — a young animal
  14. calf — of the leg
  15. chair — a leader
  16. prune — to trim
  17. calf — a young animal
  18. cold — an illness
  19. prune — the fruit
  20. clip — a video
  21. nail — for a hammer
  22. chair — a professorship
  23. clip — for paper
  24. ball — a great time

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