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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: wake · content · tear · pass · prune · degree · cold · stem

  1. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  2. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  3. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  4. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  5. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  6. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  7. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  8. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  9. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  10. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  11. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  12. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  13. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  14. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  15. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  18. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  19. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  20. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  21. The water is too ________________.
  22. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  23. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  24. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.

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

Answer key

  1. content — happy
  2. pass — to spend time
  3. prune — to trim
  4. pass — to succeed
  5. prune — to trim
  6. degree — from a university
  7. stem — a stem cell
  8. content — the amount
  9. wake — to stop sleeping
  10. stem — of a plant
  11. degree — temperature
  12. content — videos and posts
  13. pass — a permit
  14. prune — the fruit
  15. stem — to come from
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. wake — a trail
  18. degree — an amount
  19. tear — from crying
  20. tear — from crying
  21. cold — not warm
  22. wake — before a funeral
  23. tear — to rip
  24. cold — an illness

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