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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: cold · prune · stand · kid · content · root · mine · bowl

  1. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  2. I can't ________________ this cold.
  3. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  4. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  5. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  6. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  7. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  8. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  9. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  12. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  13. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  14. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  15. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  16. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  17. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  18. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  19. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  20. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  21. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  22. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  23. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  24. She's sitting on a gold ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. prune — the fruit
  2. stand — to bear
  3. content — videos and posts
  4. prune — to trim
  5. stand — for spectators
  6. root — the cause
  7. content — happy
  8. content — the amount
  9. stand — on your feet
  10. cold — not warm
  11. root — of a word
  12. kid — to tease
  13. mine — belonging to me
  14. cold — an illness
  15. mine — an explosive
  16. root — of a plant
  17. prune — to trim
  18. cold — the Cold War
  19. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  20. kid — child
  21. bowl — a dish
  22. bowl — a football final
  23. bowl — to roll
  24. mine — for digging

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