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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: mine · firm · degree · wound · chest · rule · prune · fan

  1. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  2. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  3. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  4. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  5. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  6. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  7. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  8. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  9. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  10. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  11. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  12. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  13. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  14. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  15. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  16. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  17. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  18. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  19. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  20. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  21. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  22. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  23. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  24. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.

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

Answer key

  1. wound — an injury
  2. rule — a law
  3. mine — an explosive
  4. degree — temperature
  5. firm — a company
  6. fan — a supporter
  7. wound — past of 'wind'
  8. chest — of your body
  9. degree — an amount
  10. fan — a supporter
  11. chest — of your body
  12. degree — from a university
  13. chest — a box
  14. mine — belonging to me
  15. fan — to cool the air
  16. prune — to trim
  17. rule — government
  18. prune — to trim
  19. prune — the fruit
  20. mine — for digging
  21. wound — an injury
  22. firm — steady
  23. firm — decided
  24. rule — to rule out

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