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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 120 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: suit · cold · hand · nail · bowl · spell · prune · last

  1. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  2. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  3. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  4. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  5. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  6. False peace will not ________________.
  7. The ________________ went through the wall.
  8. How do you ________________ your surname?
  9. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  10. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  11. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  12. When will it ________________ you to start?
  13. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  14. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  15. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  16. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  17. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  18. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  19. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  20. The water is too ________________.
  21. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  22. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  23. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  24. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.

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

Answer key

  1. last — finally
  2. cold — the Cold War
  3. bowl — to roll
  4. spell — magic
  5. hand — help
  6. last — to go on
  7. nail — for a hammer
  8. spell — letters
  9. suit — clothes
  10. nail — on a finger
  11. prune — to trim
  12. suit — to fit
  13. prune — to trim
  14. last — final
  15. spell — a short time
  16. prune — the fruit
  17. suit — in cards
  18. hand — in cards
  19. bowl — a football final
  20. cold — not warm
  21. hand — part of the body
  22. bowl — a dish
  23. cold — an illness
  24. nail — for a hammer

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