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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: stick · club · cold · spring · land · temple · prune · hide

  1. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  2. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  3. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  4. When are we going to ________________?
  5. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  6. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  7. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  8. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  9. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  10. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  11. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  12. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  13. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  14. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  15. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  16. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  17. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  18. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  19. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  20. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  21. When was this ________________ built?
  22. The water is too ________________.
  23. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  24. We have nothing to ________________ here.

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

Answer key

  1. land — a country
  2. prune — to trim
  3. hide — to keep secret
  4. land — to come down
  5. hide — animal skin
  6. temple — a place of worship
  7. spring — of water
  8. cold — the Cold War
  9. temple — side of the head
  10. stick — a piece of wood
  11. spring — a coil
  12. spring — the season
  13. club — for golf
  14. stick — to attach or keep to
  15. prune — to trim
  16. club — for dancing
  17. cold — an illness
  18. prune — the fruit
  19. stick — a piece of wood
  20. club — a group
  21. temple — a place of worship
  22. cold — not warm
  23. land — ground
  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