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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.

Words on the sheet
468
Word bank
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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: cold · pass · hand · rock · saw · prune · wake · capital

  1. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  2. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  3. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  4. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  5. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  6. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  7. He works in a ________________ mill.
  8. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  9. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  10. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  11. She's very handy with a ________________.
  12. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  13. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  14. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  15. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  16. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  17. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  18. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  19. The water is too ________________.
  20. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  21. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  22. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  23. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  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. wake — before a funeral
  2. capital — money
  3. prune — to trim
  4. saw — past of 'see'
  5. rock — a stone
  6. cold — the Cold War
  7. saw — the tool
  8. hand — help
  9. wake — to stop sleeping
  10. pass — to succeed
  11. saw — the tool
  12. capital — a city
  13. wake — a trail
  14. pass — to spend time
  15. hand — part of the body
  16. hand — in cards
  17. prune — the fruit
  18. capital — a big letter
  19. cold — not warm
  20. rock — music
  21. prune — to trim
  22. pass — a permit
  23. rock — to move gently
  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