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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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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: degree · root · cell · prune · firm · last · cold · key

  1. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  2. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  3. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  4. He was locked up in a ________________.
  5. False peace will not ________________.
  6. The water is too ________________.
  7. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  8. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  9. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  10. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  11. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  12. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  13. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  14. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  15. This piece is in a major ________________.
  16. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  17. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  18. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  19. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  20. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  21. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  22. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  23. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  24. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — an illness
  2. prune — to trim
  3. prune — to trim
  4. cell — in a prison
  5. last — to go on
  6. cold — not warm
  7. degree — an amount
  8. degree — from a university
  9. firm — steady
  10. root — of a word
  11. prune — the fruit
  12. root — of a plant
  13. key — the most important part
  14. last — final
  15. key — in music
  16. cell — in biology
  17. cell — a phone
  18. last — finally
  19. cold — the Cold War
  20. key — for a lock
  21. firm — a company
  22. degree — temperature
  23. firm — decided
  24. root — the cause

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