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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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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 · prune · pop · cap · pitcher · hand · rock · last

  1. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  2. False peace will not ________________.
  3. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  4. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  5. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  6. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  7. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  8. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  9. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  10. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  13. We're almost out of ________________.
  14. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  15. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  16. He is an ace ________________.
  17. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  18. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  19. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  20. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  21. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  22. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  23. You don't need to ________________ round.
  24. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.

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

Answer key

  1. pitcher — a jug
  2. last — to go on
  3. cap — a hat
  4. prune — to trim
  5. pitcher — a jug
  6. cap — of ice
  7. cap — a lid
  8. pop — music
  9. hand — in cards
  10. cold — the Cold War
  11. cold — not warm
  12. cold — an illness
  13. pop — soda
  14. rock — to move gently
  15. hand — help
  16. pitcher — in baseball
  17. rock — music
  18. last — final
  19. rock — a stone
  20. hand — part of the body
  21. last — finally
  22. prune — the fruit
  23. pop — to visit
  24. prune — to trim

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