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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 116 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: court · squash · patient · key · prune · pop · sharp · cold

  1. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  2. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  3. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  4. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  5. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  6. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  7. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  8. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  9. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  10. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  11. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  12. We're almost out of ________________.
  13. The ball is in your ________________.
  14. This piece is in a major ________________.
  15. It's one o'clock ________________.
  16. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  17. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  18. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  19. The water is too ________________.
  20. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  21. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  22. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  23. You don't need to ________________ round.
  24. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.

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

Answer key

  1. squash — to crush
  2. sharp — with an edge
  3. key — for a lock
  4. prune — to trim
  5. key — the most important part
  6. patient — a sick person
  7. prune — to trim
  8. cold — the Cold War
  9. cold — an illness
  10. prune — the fruit
  11. patient — calm and waiting
  12. pop — soda
  13. court — for sport
  14. key — in music
  15. sharp — exactly
  16. court — of a king
  17. patient — a sick person
  18. pop — music
  19. cold — not warm
  20. squash — the vegetable
  21. sharp — clever
  22. squash — the sport
  23. pop — to visit
  24. court — of law

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