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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: prune · cold · temple · band · staff · bay · season · straw

  1. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  2. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  5. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  6. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  7. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  8. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  9. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  12. When was this ________________ built?
  13. Did you ________________ the meat?
  14. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  15. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  16. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  17. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  18. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  19. My mare is ________________ in color.
  20. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  21. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  22. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  23. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  24. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.

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

Answer key

  1. straw — dry grass
  2. prune — to trim
  3. cold — an illness
  4. temple — a place of worship
  5. prune — the fruit
  6. band — a music group
  7. band — a ring
  8. band — a rubber band
  9. staff — employees
  10. cold — not warm
  11. prune — to trim
  12. temple — a place of worship
  13. season — to add flavour
  14. bay — to keep at bay
  15. staff — a stick
  16. bay — a part of the sea
  17. straw — to clutch at straws
  18. temple — side of the head
  19. bay — a horse colour
  20. straw — a straw man
  21. cold — the Cold War
  22. season — in sport
  23. season — of the year
  24. staff — employees

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