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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
468
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: deal · game · wound · nail · temple · prune · bass · cold

  1. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  2. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  3. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  4. The ________________ went through the wall.
  5. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  6. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  7. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  8. When was this ________________ built?
  9. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  10. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  11. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  12. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  13. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  14. The water is too ________________.
  15. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  16. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  17. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  18. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  19. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  20. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  21. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  22. That was a fun ________________.
  23. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  24. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.

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

Answer key

  1. prune — to trim
  2. bass — the instrument
  3. deal — to handle
  4. nail — for a hammer
  5. temple — a place of worship
  6. cold — the Cold War
  7. deal — an agreement
  8. temple — a place of worship
  9. bass — low music
  10. game — a kind of play
  11. prune — the fruit
  12. prune — to trim
  13. bass — the fish
  14. cold — not warm
  15. nail — on a finger
  16. deal — a big deal
  17. wound — an injury
  18. game — wild animals
  19. cold — an illness
  20. temple — side of the head
  21. wound — past of 'wind'
  22. game — a match
  23. wound — an injury
  24. nail — for a hammer

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