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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: cold · prune · fall · land · sharp · firm · wake · root

  1. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  2. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  3. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  4. The water is too ________________.
  5. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  6. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  7. When are we going to ________________?
  8. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  9. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  10. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  11. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  12. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  15. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  16. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  17. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  18. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  19. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  20. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  21. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  22. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  23. It's one o'clock ________________.
  24. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — the Cold War
  2. prune — to trim
  3. fall — to drop
  4. cold — not warm
  5. wake — to stop sleeping
  6. land — ground
  7. land — to come down
  8. prune — to trim
  9. firm — decided
  10. root — the cause
  11. sharp — clever
  12. prune — the fruit
  13. cold — an illness
  14. firm — steady
  15. fall — the season
  16. sharp — with an edge
  17. wake — a trail
  18. land — a country
  19. wake — before a funeral
  20. root — of a plant
  21. firm — a company
  22. root — of a word
  23. sharp — exactly
  24. fall — to drop

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