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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: hand · pit · tear · snap · cold · prune · content · stand

  1. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  2. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  3. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  4. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  5. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  6. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  7. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  8. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  9. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  10. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  11. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  12. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  13. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  14. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  15. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  16. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  17. I can't ________________ this cold.
  18. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  19. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  20. The water is too ________________.
  21. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  22. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  23. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  24. Check the label for the sugar ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. stand — for spectators
  2. pit — in a race
  3. snap — to snap out of it
  4. prune — the fruit
  5. prune — to trim
  6. content — videos and posts
  7. hand — help
  8. snap — to click
  9. tear — to rip
  10. cold — the Cold War
  11. content — happy
  12. snap — to speak sharply
  13. tear — from crying
  14. hand — part of the body
  15. prune — to trim
  16. hand — in cards
  17. stand — to bear
  18. tear — from crying
  19. pit — a hole
  20. cold — not warm
  21. pit — a fruit stone
  22. stand — on your feet
  23. cold — an illness
  24. content — the amount

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