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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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468
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: prune · present · stand · cold · hand · staff · hide · degree

  1. The water is too ________________.
  2. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  3. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  4. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  5. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  6. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  7. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  8. I can't ________________ this cold.
  9. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  10. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  11. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  12. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  13. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  14. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  15. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  16. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  17. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  18. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  19. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  20. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  21. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  22. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  23. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  24. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. degree — temperature
  3. prune — to trim
  4. hand — part of the body
  5. present — a gift
  6. hide — to keep secret
  7. present — the time now
  8. stand — to bear
  9. hide — to keep secret
  10. staff — a stick
  11. degree — from a university
  12. cold — the Cold War
  13. degree — an amount
  14. hand — help
  15. staff — employees
  16. hand — in cards
  17. prune — to trim
  18. stand — for spectators
  19. prune — the fruit
  20. cold — an illness
  21. stand — on your feet
  22. hide — animal skin
  23. present — there
  24. staff — employees

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