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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: patient · hand · saw · bound · prune · mine · pit · straw

  1. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  2. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  3. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  4. He works in a ________________ mill.
  5. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  6. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  7. That was ________________ to happen.
  8. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  9. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  10. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  11. She's very handy with a ________________.
  12. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  13. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  14. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  15. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  16. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  17. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  18. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  19. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  20. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  21. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  22. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  23. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  24. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pit — a hole
  2. hand — part of the body
  3. hand — in cards
  4. saw — the tool
  5. prune — the fruit
  6. mine — an explosive
  7. bound — certain
  8. hand — help
  9. prune — to trim
  10. patient — calm and waiting
  11. saw — the tool
  12. straw — to clutch at straws
  13. pit — in a race
  14. bound — tied together
  15. saw — past of 'see'
  16. bound — obliged
  17. patient — a sick person
  18. prune — to trim
  19. straw — a straw man
  20. straw — dry grass
  21. mine — belonging to me
  22. mine — for digging
  23. pit — a fruit stone
  24. patient — a sick person

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