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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: wake · degree · wind · prune · kid · rule · suit · content

  1. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  2. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  3. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  4. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  5. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  6. When will it ________________ you to start?
  7. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  8. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  9. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  10. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  11. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  12. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  13. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  14. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  15. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  16. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  17. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  18. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  19. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  20. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  21. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  22. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  23. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  24. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.

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

Answer key

  1. prune — to trim
  2. rule — to rule out
  3. wake — before a funeral
  4. degree — an amount
  5. suit — clothes
  6. suit — to fit
  7. wind — moving air
  8. degree — from a university
  9. kid — to tease
  10. content — videos and posts
  11. degree — temperature
  12. suit — in cards
  13. prune — the fruit
  14. content — happy
  15. wind — moving air
  16. content — the amount
  17. wind — to turn a key
  18. wake — to stop sleeping
  19. prune — to trim
  20. wake — a trail
  21. kid — child
  22. rule — government
  23. rule — a law
  24. kid — young goat (kid gloves)

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