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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 116 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: ruler · cold · prune · wound · plane · chip · hand · file

  1. The ________________ took off on time.
  2. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  3. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  4. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  7. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  8. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  9. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  10. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  11. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  12. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  13. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  14. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  15. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  16. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  17. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  18. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  19. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  20. The water is too ________________.
  21. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  22. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  23. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  24. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.

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

Answer key

  1. plane — an aircraft
  2. ruler — a monarch
  3. prune — the fruit
  4. ruler — for measuring
  5. cold — an illness
  6. file — a tool
  7. cold — the Cold War
  8. hand — in cards
  9. plane — in geometry
  10. file — a line of people
  11. chip — to eat
  12. plane — a tool
  13. ruler — for measuring
  14. prune — to trim
  15. chip — for betting
  16. hand — part of the body
  17. file — a document
  18. chip — in a computer
  19. wound — an injury
  20. cold — not warm
  21. wound — an injury
  22. wound — past of 'wind'
  23. hand — help
  24. prune — to trim

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