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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: wind · field · cabinet · lie · club · hand · rule · prune

  1. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  2. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  3. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  4. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  5. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  6. What do you think of the new ________________?
  7. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  8. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  9. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  10. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  11. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  12. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  13. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  14. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  15. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  16. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  17. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  18. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  19. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  20. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  21. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  22. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  23. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  24. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.

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

Answer key

  1. prune — to trim
  2. prune — to trim
  3. rule — government
  4. hand — help
  5. lie — an untruth
  6. cabinet — ministers
  7. club — for golf
  8. lie — to recline
  9. cabinet — ministers
  10. hand — in cards
  11. field — for sport
  12. lie — an untruth
  13. prune — the fruit
  14. wind — to turn a key
  15. club — a group
  16. field — a subject
  17. club — for dancing
  18. hand — part of the body
  19. rule — to rule out
  20. field — farmland
  21. cabinet — a cupboard
  22. wind — moving air
  23. wind — moving air
  24. rule — a law

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