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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: track · lie · dip · mine · cold · tube · prune · hand

  1. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  2. The water is too ________________.
  3. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  4. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  5. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  6. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  7. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  8. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  9. I'll be taking the ________________.
  10. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  11. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  12. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  13. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  14. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  15. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  16. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  17. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  18. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  19. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  20. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  21. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  22. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  23. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  24. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. cold — the Cold War
  2. cold — not warm
  3. dip — to dunk
  4. tube — a container
  5. track — a path
  6. mine — belonging to me
  7. hand — part of the body
  8. cold — an illness
  9. tube — the underground
  10. prune — to trim
  11. lie — an untruth
  12. track — a song
  13. lie — to recline
  14. hand — in cards
  15. mine — for digging
  16. tube — in a tire
  17. mine — an explosive
  18. prune — the fruit
  19. dip — to sink
  20. dip — a sauce
  21. hand — help
  22. prune — to trim
  23. track — to keep track
  24. lie — an untruth

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