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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 · pass · cold · mate · bulb · perch · prune · row

  1. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  2. I've got to change the light ________________.
  3. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  4. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  5. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  6. Have you found your soul ________________?
  7. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  8. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  9. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  10. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  11. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  12. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  13. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  14. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  15. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  16. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  17. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  18. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  19. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  20. The light ________________ burned out.
  21. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  22. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  23. The water is too ________________.
  24. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. mate — a friend
  2. bulb — for light
  3. prune — to trim
  4. perch — for a bird
  5. pass — to succeed
  6. mate — a partner
  7. prune — to trim
  8. row — a quarrel
  9. cold — an illness
  10. cold — the Cold War
  11. mate — to breed
  12. row — a line
  13. cue — a signal
  14. pass — to spend time
  15. row — to paddle
  16. pass — a permit
  17. prune — the fruit
  18. perch — the fish
  19. cue — a hint
  20. bulb — for light
  21. bulb — of a plant
  22. cue — for pool
  23. cold — not warm
  24. perch — for a bird

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