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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
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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: bore · hide · last · fine · squash · cold · band · prune

  1. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  2. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  3. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  4. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  5. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  6. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  7. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  8. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  9. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  10. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  11. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  12. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  13. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  14. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  15. The water is too ________________.
  16. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  17. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  18. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  19. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  20. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  21. False peace will not ________________.
  22. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  23. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  24. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.

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

Answer key

  1. hide — to keep secret
  2. fine — high quality
  3. last — finally
  4. cold — the Cold War
  5. band — a rubber band
  6. squash — the vegetable
  7. fine — a penalty
  8. bore — gave birth
  9. cold — an illness
  10. band — a ring
  11. fine — all right
  12. hide — to keep secret
  13. band — a music group
  14. prune — to trim
  15. cold — not warm
  16. prune — the fruit
  17. last — final
  18. bore — to tire
  19. squash — to crush
  20. bore — to drill
  21. last — to go on
  22. prune — to trim
  23. squash — the sport
  24. hide — animal skin

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