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

Word bank: prune · pop · temple · wound · calf · wind · file · mark

  1. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  2. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  3. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  4. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  5. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  6. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  7. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  8. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  9. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  10. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  11. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  12. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  13. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  14. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  15. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  16. You don't need to ________________ round.
  17. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  18. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  19. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  20. When was this ________________ built?
  21. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  22. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  23. We're almost out of ________________.
  24. We ________________ up on opposing sides.

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

Answer key

  1. prune — to trim
  2. mark — to pay attention
  3. wound — an injury
  4. wind — moving air
  5. wind — moving air
  6. prune — the fruit
  7. wound — an injury
  8. temple — a place of worship
  9. file — a tool
  10. calf — a young animal
  11. mark — a grade
  12. calf — a young animal
  13. calf — of the leg
  14. file — a line of people
  15. mark — a trace
  16. pop — to visit
  17. prune — to trim
  18. temple — side of the head
  19. pop — music
  20. temple — a place of worship
  21. wind — to turn a key
  22. file — a document
  23. pop — soda
  24. wound — past of 'wind'

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