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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 in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  2. I can't ________________ this cold.
  3. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  4. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  5. That was a fun ________________.
  6. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  7. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  8. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  9. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  10. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  11. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  12. My mare is ________________ in color.
  13. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  14. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  15. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  16. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  17. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  18. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  19. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  20. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  21. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  22. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  23. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  24. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — help
  2. stand — to bear
  3. rest — a break
  4. prune — the fruit
  5. game — a match
  6. wound — past of 'wind'
  7. prune — to trim
  8. bay — a part of the sea
  9. hand — part of the body
  10. stand — on your feet
  11. prune — to trim
  12. bay — a horse colour
  13. wound — an injury
  14. hand — in cards
  15. game — a kind of play
  16. game — wild animals
  17. mine — for digging
  18. bay — to keep at bay
  19. wound — an injury
  20. stand — for spectators
  21. mine — an explosive
  22. mine — belonging to me
  23. rest — what's left
  24. rest — what's left

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