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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: degree · wind · cue · prune · date · fall · cold · plane

  1. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  2. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  3. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  4. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  5. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  6. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  7. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  8. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  9. The ________________ took off on time.
  10. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  11. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  12. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  13. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  14. The water is too ________________.
  15. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  16. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  17. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  18. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  19. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  20. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  21. Have you settled on a ________________?
  22. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  23. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  24. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.

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

Answer key

  1. fall — to drop
  2. wind — to turn a key
  3. plane — a tool
  4. plane — in geometry
  5. cue — for pool
  6. degree — an amount
  7. prune — to trim
  8. cold — an illness
  9. plane — an aircraft
  10. fall — to drop
  11. date — the fruit
  12. degree — from a university
  13. date — on the calendar
  14. cold — not warm
  15. prune — to trim
  16. fall — the season
  17. wind — moving air
  18. prune — the fruit
  19. cue — a hint
  20. cold — the Cold War
  21. date — on the calendar
  22. wind — moving air
  23. degree — temperature
  24. cue — a signal

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