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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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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 · board · cap · march · cold · pit · wake · saw

  1. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  2. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  3. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  4. He works in a ________________ mill.
  5. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  6. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  7. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  8. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  9. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  10. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  11. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  12. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  13. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  14. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  15. The water is too ________________.
  16. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  17. She's very handy with a ________________.
  18. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  19. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  20. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  21. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  22. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  23. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  24. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.

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

Answer key

  1. cap — a lid
  2. prune — to trim
  3. wake — before a funeral
  4. saw — the tool
  5. board — a flat piece
  6. board — to get on
  7. cap — of ice
  8. cold — the Cold War
  9. prune — the fruit
  10. wake — to stop sleeping
  11. saw — past of 'see'
  12. pit — in a race
  13. board — a committee
  14. pit — a fruit stone
  15. cold — not warm
  16. march — the month
  17. saw — the tool
  18. march — music
  19. cold — an illness
  20. prune — to trim
  21. pit — a hole
  22. march — the month
  23. cap — a hat
  24. wake — a trail

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