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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: wind · fall · prune · hide · chair · present

  1. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  2. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  3. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  4. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  5. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  6. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  7. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  8. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  9. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  10. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  11. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  12. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  13. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  14. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  15. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  16. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  17. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  18. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.

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

Answer key

  1. present — a gift
  2. fall — to drop
  3. chair — to sit on
  4. wind — moving air
  5. chair — a leader
  6. hide — to keep secret
  7. prune — the fruit
  8. fall — to drop
  9. wind — to turn a key
  10. wind — moving air
  11. hide — to keep secret
  12. hide — animal skin
  13. chair — a professorship
  14. prune — to trim
  15. present — the time now
  16. present — there
  17. prune — to trim
  18. fall — the season

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