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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: land · file · cold · wind · chair · can · prune · pop

  1. When are we going to ________________?
  2. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  3. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  4. We're almost out of ________________.
  5. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  6. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  7. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  8. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  9. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  10. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  11. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  12. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  13. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  14. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  15. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  16. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  17. You don't need to ________________ round.
  18. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  19. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  20. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  21. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  22. The water is too ________________.
  23. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  24. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. land — to come down
  2. cold — an illness
  3. can — a tin
  4. pop — soda
  5. wind — to turn a key
  6. land — a country
  7. cold — the Cold War
  8. prune — to trim
  9. can — to be able to
  10. chair — a leader
  11. prune — to trim
  12. can — a tin
  13. wind — moving air
  14. chair — a professorship
  15. prune — the fruit
  16. file — a line of people
  17. pop — to visit
  18. file — a document
  19. chair — to sit on
  20. wind — moving air
  21. pop — music
  22. cold — not warm
  23. land — ground
  24. file — a tool

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