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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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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: wound · bulb · land · wave · wake · rule · sharp · prune

  1. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  2. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  3. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  4. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  5. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  6. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  7. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  8. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  9. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  10. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  11. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  12. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  13. I've got to change the light ________________.
  14. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  15. The light ________________ burned out.
  16. When are we going to ________________?
  17. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  18. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  19. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  20. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  21. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  22. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  23. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  24. It's one o'clock ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. prune — to trim
  2. rule — government
  3. land — a country
  4. wound — an injury
  5. prune — the fruit
  6. wave — a sudden rise
  7. sharp — with an edge
  8. prune — to trim
  9. sharp — clever
  10. wave — of the sea
  11. wake — a trail
  12. wound — past of 'wind'
  13. bulb — for light
  14. bulb — of a plant
  15. bulb — for light
  16. land — to come down
  17. rule — a law
  18. wound — an injury
  19. wake — before a funeral
  20. land — ground
  21. rule — to rule out
  22. wave — with your hand
  23. wake — to stop sleeping
  24. sharp — exactly

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