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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: chest · calf · file · prune · pass · cold · squash · game

  1. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  2. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  3. The water is too ________________.
  4. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  5. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  6. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  7. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  8. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  9. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  10. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  11. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  12. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  13. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  14. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  15. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  16. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  17. That was a fun ________________.
  18. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  19. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  20. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  21. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  22. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  23. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  24. You can't go backstage without a ________________.

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. cold — not warm
  4. pass — to spend time
  5. file — a line of people
  6. file — a tool
  7. squash — the vegetable
  8. chest — of your body
  9. game — wild animals
  10. calf — of the leg
  11. prune — to trim
  12. chest — a box
  13. game — a kind of play
  14. file — a document
  15. squash — to crush
  16. prune — the fruit
  17. game — a match
  18. chest — of your body
  19. cold — an illness
  20. calf — a young animal
  21. pass — to succeed
  22. calf — a young animal
  23. squash — the sport
  24. pass — a permit

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