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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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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: face · row · prune · fan · ground · wind · pit · saw

  1. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  2. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  3. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  4. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  5. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  6. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  7. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  8. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  9. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  10. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  11. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  12. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  13. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  14. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  15. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  16. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  17. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  18. There's no middle ________________.
  19. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  20. He works in a ________________ mill.
  21. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  22. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  23. She's very handy with a ________________.
  24. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.

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

Answer key

  1. wind — to turn a key
  2. wind — moving air
  3. fan — a supporter
  4. prune — the fruit
  5. pit — a fruit stone
  6. prune — to trim
  7. ground — crushed
  8. fan — to cool the air
  9. saw — past of 'see'
  10. wind — moving air
  11. face — to point toward
  12. row — to paddle
  13. pit — a hole
  14. prune — to trim
  15. fan — a supporter
  16. ground — the earth
  17. face — part of the head
  18. ground — a position
  19. pit — in a race
  20. saw — the tool
  21. row — a quarrel
  22. face — to confront
  23. saw — the tool
  24. row — a line

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