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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: spring · face · sharp · spell · cold · prune · rest · rush

  1. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  2. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  3. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  4. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  5. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  6. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  7. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  8. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  9. It's one o'clock ________________.
  10. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  11. How do you ________________ your surname?
  12. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  13. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  14. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  15. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  16. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  17. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  18. That must've been a ________________.
  19. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  20. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  21. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  22. The water is too ________________.
  23. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  24. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — a coil
  2. cold — the Cold War
  3. rest — a break
  4. spring — the season
  5. prune — to trim
  6. spring — of water
  7. rush — to hurry
  8. rest — what's left
  9. sharp — exactly
  10. cold — an illness
  11. spell — letters
  12. sharp — with an edge
  13. face — to confront
  14. rest — what's left
  15. prune — to trim
  16. rush — hurry
  17. spell — a short time
  18. rush — a thrill
  19. prune — the fruit
  20. spell — magic
  21. face — part of the head
  22. cold — not warm
  23. sharp — clever
  24. face — to point toward

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