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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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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: cold · dip · prune · content · kid · rush · safe · wake

  1. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  2. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  3. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  4. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  5. The water is too ________________.
  6. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  7. That must've been a ________________.
  8. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  9. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  10. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  11. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  12. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  13. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  14. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  15. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  16. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  17. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  18. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  19. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  20. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  21. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  22. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  23. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  24. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.

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

Answer key

  1. safe — out of danger
  2. prune — to trim
  3. rush — hurry
  4. cold — an illness
  5. cold — not warm
  6. cold — the Cold War
  7. rush — a thrill
  8. wake — before a funeral
  9. dip — to sink
  10. content — the amount
  11. wake — a trail
  12. prune — the fruit
  13. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  14. safe — out of danger
  15. safe — a strongbox
  16. dip — a sauce
  17. kid — to tease
  18. kid — child
  19. prune — to trim
  20. content — happy
  21. dip — to dunk
  22. content — videos and posts
  23. rush — to hurry
  24. wake — to stop sleeping

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