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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: bat · wave · chip · last · key · pitcher · cold · prune

  1. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  2. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  3. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  4. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  5. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  6. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  7. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  8. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  9. This piece is in a major ________________.
  10. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  11. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  12. False peace will not ________________.
  13. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  14. He is an ace ________________.
  15. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  16. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  17. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  18. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  19. The water is too ________________.
  20. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  21. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  22. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  23. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  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. last — final
  2. last — finally
  3. chip — for betting
  4. wave — of the sea
  5. wave — a sudden rise
  6. prune — the fruit
  7. cold — the Cold War
  8. bat — the animal
  9. key — in music
  10. chip — to eat
  11. key — for a lock
  12. last — to go on
  13. bat — for baseball
  14. pitcher — in baseball
  15. cold — an illness
  16. key — the most important part
  17. prune — to trim
  18. chip — in a computer
  19. cold — not warm
  20. bat — in an idiom
  21. pitcher — a jug
  22. wave — with your hand
  23. pitcher — a jug
  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