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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: bowl · deal · cold · wake · last · prune · temple · key

  1. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  2. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  3. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  4. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  5. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  6. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  7. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  8. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  9. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  10. When was this ________________ built?
  11. False peace will not ________________.
  12. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  13. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  14. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  15. The water is too ________________.
  16. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  17. This piece is in a major ________________.
  18. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  19. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  20. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  21. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  22. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  23. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  24. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.

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

Answer key

  1. wake — before a funeral
  2. prune — to trim
  3. key — for a lock
  4. deal — to handle
  5. prune — to trim
  6. last — final
  7. cold — an illness
  8. bowl — a dish
  9. deal — a big deal
  10. temple — a place of worship
  11. last — to go on
  12. bowl — a football final
  13. bowl — to roll
  14. wake — to stop sleeping
  15. cold — not warm
  16. key — the most important part
  17. key — in music
  18. cold — the Cold War
  19. prune — the fruit
  20. deal — an agreement
  21. last — finally
  22. temple — side of the head
  23. temple — a place of worship
  24. wake — a trail

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