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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: hand · prune · wound · wake · cold · pass · hide · nail

  1. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  2. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  3. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  4. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  5. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  6. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  7. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  8. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  9. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  10. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  13. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  14. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  15. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  16. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  17. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  18. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  19. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  20. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  21. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  22. The ________________ went through the wall.
  23. The water is too ________________.
  24. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?

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

Answer key

  1. hand — part of the body
  2. prune — to trim
  3. nail — on a finger
  4. wake — to stop sleeping
  5. prune — to trim
  6. wound — past of 'wind'
  7. wound — an injury
  8. prune — the fruit
  9. wake — a trail
  10. wake — before a funeral
  11. cold — an illness
  12. nail — for a hammer
  13. pass — to spend time
  14. hide — to keep secret
  15. hand — in cards
  16. hand — help
  17. pass — to succeed
  18. wound — an injury
  19. hide — animal skin
  20. pass — a permit
  21. cold — the Cold War
  22. nail — for a hammer
  23. cold — not warm
  24. hide — to keep secret

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