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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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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: kid · cold · chip · fall · key · deal · band · prune

  1. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  2. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  3. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  4. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  5. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  6. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  7. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  8. The water is too ________________.
  9. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  10. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  11. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  12. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  13. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  14. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  15. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  16. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  17. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  18. This piece is in a major ________________.
  19. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  20. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  21. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  22. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  23. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  24. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — the Cold War
  2. prune — to trim
  3. kid — to tease
  4. deal — a big deal
  5. chip — in a computer
  6. cold — an illness
  7. fall — to drop
  8. cold — not warm
  9. band — a music group
  10. prune — to trim
  11. chip — for betting
  12. kid — child
  13. deal — an agreement
  14. fall — to drop
  15. key — for a lock
  16. chip — to eat
  17. key — the most important part
  18. key — in music
  19. prune — the fruit
  20. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  21. band — a rubber band
  22. band — a ring
  23. deal — to handle
  24. fall — the season

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