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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: ball · sharp · pound · prune · suit · hand · cold · drill

  1. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  2. The water is too ________________.
  3. When will it ________________ you to start?
  4. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  5. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  6. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  7. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  8. It's one o'clock ________________.
  9. The King held a masked ________________.
  10. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  11. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  12. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  13. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  14. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  15. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  16. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  17. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  18. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  19. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  20. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  21. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  22. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  23. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  24. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.

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

Answer key

  1. prune — to trim
  2. cold — not warm
  3. suit — to fit
  4. hand — in cards
  5. ball — a round shape
  6. drill — a practice
  7. suit — in cards
  8. sharp — exactly
  9. ball — a dance
  10. pound — to hit hard
  11. hand — part of the body
  12. prune — to trim
  13. prune — the fruit
  14. pound — a weight
  15. drill — the tool
  16. sharp — with an edge
  17. hand — help
  18. drill — army training
  19. suit — clothes
  20. ball — a great time
  21. cold — the Cold War
  22. pound — for dogs
  23. sharp — clever
  24. cold — an illness

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