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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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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: cue · wake · prune · dip · pop · cold · stock · bat

  1. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  2. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  3. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  4. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  5. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  6. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  7. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  8. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  9. The ________________ market has crashed.
  10. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  11. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  12. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  13. We're almost out of ________________.
  14. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  15. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  16. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  17. The water is too ________________.
  18. You don't need to ________________ round.
  19. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  20. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  21. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  22. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  23. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  24. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.

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

Answer key

  1. dip — to dunk
  2. prune — to trim
  3. prune — to trim
  4. bat — the animal
  5. wake — a trail
  6. stock — a soup base
  7. wake — before a funeral
  8. cold — an illness
  9. stock — shares
  10. cue — a signal
  11. bat — in an idiom
  12. pop — music
  13. pop — soda
  14. prune — the fruit
  15. wake — to stop sleeping
  16. cue — for pool
  17. cold — not warm
  18. pop — to visit
  19. dip — to sink
  20. cold — the Cold War
  21. stock — goods
  22. cue — a hint
  23. dip — a sauce
  24. bat — for baseball

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