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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 120 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: prune · wake · cold · pitcher · bound · track · fall · cue

  1. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  2. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  3. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  4. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  5. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  6. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  7. That was ________________ to happen.
  8. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  9. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  13. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  14. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  17. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  18. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  19. He is an ace ________________.
  20. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  21. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  22. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  23. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  24. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.

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

Answer key

  1. wake — before a funeral
  2. prune — to trim
  3. pitcher — a jug
  4. prune — to trim
  5. track — a song
  6. cue — a signal
  7. bound — certain
  8. bound — tied together
  9. fall — to drop
  10. cold — not warm
  11. cold — an illness
  12. track — a path
  13. cue — for pool
  14. fall — the season
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. wake — to stop sleeping
  17. track — to keep track
  18. cue — a hint
  19. pitcher — in baseball
  20. prune — the fruit
  21. bound — obliged
  22. fall — to drop
  23. pitcher — a jug
  24. wake — a trail

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