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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: wave · cap · prune · club · content · foot · cold · row

  1. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  2. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  3. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  4. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  7. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  8. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  9. The water is too ________________.
  10. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  11. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  12. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  13. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  14. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  15. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  16. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  17. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  18. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  19. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  20. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  21. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  22. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  23. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  24. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. club — a group
  2. wave — a sudden rise
  3. club — for dancing
  4. cold — the Cold War
  5. cold — an illness
  6. foot — a measure
  7. prune — to trim
  8. content — the amount
  9. cold — not warm
  10. row — to paddle
  11. content — happy
  12. cap — a lid
  13. prune — to trim
  14. wave — with your hand
  15. prune — the fruit
  16. content — videos and posts
  17. row — a line
  18. club — for golf
  19. foot — part of the body
  20. cap — of ice
  21. foot — the bottom
  22. row — a quarrel
  23. cap — a hat
  24. wave — of the sea

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