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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 120 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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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: prune · saw · spell · bear · cold · hand · track · cue

  1. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  2. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  3. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  4. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  5. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  6. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  7. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  8. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  9. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  10. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  11. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  12. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  13. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  14. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  15. She's very handy with a ________________.
  16. How do you ________________ your surname?
  17. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  18. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  19. He works in a ________________ mill.
  20. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  21. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  22. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  23. The water is too ________________.
  24. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. prune — the fruit
  2. prune — to trim
  3. saw — past of 'see'
  4. cue — a hint
  5. hand — in cards
  6. bear — to put up with
  7. track — a song
  8. cold — the Cold War
  9. hand — help
  10. cue — a signal
  11. track — to keep track
  12. spell — magic
  13. track — a path
  14. bear — the animal
  15. saw — the tool
  16. spell — letters
  17. prune — to trim
  18. bear — the animal
  19. saw — the tool
  20. cue — for pool
  21. spell — a short time
  22. cold — an illness
  23. cold — not warm
  24. hand — part of the body

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