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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: rule · ground · chest · current · prune · mine

  1. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  2. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  3. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  4. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  5. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  6. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  7. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  8. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  9. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  10. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  11. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  12. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  13. There's no middle ________________.
  14. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  15. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  16. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  17. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  18. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?

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

Answer key

  1. prune — to trim
  2. current — electric
  3. ground — the earth
  4. mine — belonging to me
  5. mine — for digging
  6. prune — to trim
  7. current — of water
  8. chest — of your body
  9. current — happening now
  10. rule — a law
  11. mine — an explosive
  12. chest — of your body
  13. ground — a position
  14. ground — crushed
  15. rule — to rule out
  16. prune — the fruit
  17. chest — a box
  18. rule — government

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