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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: plane · lash · wound · content · prune · hand · race · mine

  1. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  2. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  3. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  4. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  5. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  6. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  7. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  8. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  9. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  10. The ________________ took off on time.
  11. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  12. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  13. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  14. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  15. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  16. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  17. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  18. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  19. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  20. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  21. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  22. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  23. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  24. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. prune — to trim
  2. hand — part of the body
  3. lash — a whip stroke
  4. content — videos and posts
  5. plane — a tool
  6. content — happy
  7. race — a contest
  8. race — humankind
  9. wound — an injury
  10. plane — an aircraft
  11. mine — belonging to me
  12. lash — to lash out
  13. content — the amount
  14. wound — past of 'wind'
  15. prune — the fruit
  16. plane — in geometry
  17. lash — an eyelash
  18. hand — help
  19. mine — an explosive
  20. wound — an injury
  21. prune — to trim
  22. mine — for digging
  23. hand — in cards
  24. race — the arms race

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