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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: shower · bank · mine · prune · sharp · land · bear · chest

  1. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  2. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  3. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  4. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  5. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  6. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  7. When are we going to ________________?
  8. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  9. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  10. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  11. It's one o'clock ________________.
  12. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  13. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  14. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  15. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  16. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  17. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  18. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  19. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  20. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  21. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  22. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  23. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  24. A ________________ is just a dried plum.

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

Answer key

  1. bank — of a river
  2. shower — to wash
  3. bear — to put up with
  4. prune — to trim
  5. land — a country
  6. chest — of your body
  7. land — to come down
  8. bank — for money
  9. chest — of your body
  10. bank — for money
  11. sharp — exactly
  12. chest — a box
  13. mine — an explosive
  14. land — ground
  15. sharp — clever
  16. shower — a meteor shower
  17. bear — the animal
  18. mine — for digging
  19. shower — rain
  20. mine — belonging to me
  21. bear — the animal
  22. sharp — with an edge
  23. prune — to trim
  24. prune — the fruit

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