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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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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: prune · bear · cap · mate · spring · track · sharp · cold

  1. It's one o'clock ________________.
  2. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  5. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  6. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  7. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  8. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  9. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  10. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  11. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  12. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  13. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  14. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  15. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  16. Have you found your soul ________________?
  17. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  18. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  19. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  20. The water is too ________________.
  21. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  22. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  23. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  24. The polar ice ________________ is melting.

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

Answer key

  1. sharp — exactly
  2. cap — a hat
  3. cold — an illness
  4. sharp — with an edge
  5. bear — the animal
  6. bear — to put up with
  7. track — a song
  8. track — a path
  9. track — to keep track
  10. spring — of water
  11. prune — to trim
  12. prune — to trim
  13. spring — the season
  14. cap — a lid
  15. bear — the animal
  16. mate — a partner
  17. cold — the Cold War
  18. mate — a friend
  19. sharp — clever
  20. cold — not warm
  21. mate — to breed
  22. prune — the fruit
  23. spring — a coil
  24. cap — of ice

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