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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: sharp · cabinet · mark · prune · leaves · capital · squash · cold

  1. The water is too ________________.
  2. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  3. It's one o'clock ________________.
  4. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  5. What do you think of the new ________________?
  6. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  7. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  8. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  9. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  10. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  11. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  12. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  13. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  14. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  15. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  16. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  17. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  18. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  19. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  20. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  21. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  22. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  23. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  24. The train ________________ at six o'clock.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. sharp — clever
  3. sharp — exactly
  4. capital — money
  5. cabinet — ministers
  6. mark — a trace
  7. capital — a big letter
  8. cold — an illness
  9. mark — to pay attention
  10. mark — a grade
  11. squash — to crush
  12. leaves — lets stay
  13. capital — a city
  14. prune — the fruit
  15. squash — the vegetable
  16. prune — to trim
  17. squash — the sport
  18. cabinet — a cupboard
  19. sharp — with an edge
  20. leaves — of a tree
  21. cold — the Cold War
  22. prune — to trim
  23. cabinet — ministers
  24. leaves — to go away

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