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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.

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: prune · hide · degree · straw · mine · wave · lash · can

  1. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  2. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  3. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  4. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  5. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  6. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  7. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  8. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  9. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  10. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  11. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  12. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  13. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  14. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  15. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  16. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  17. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  18. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  19. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  20. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  21. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  22. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  23. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  24. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — an amount
  2. hide — to keep secret
  3. wave — of the sea
  4. prune — to trim
  5. hide — animal skin
  6. wave — a sudden rise
  7. mine — belonging to me
  8. lash — a whip stroke
  9. prune — the fruit
  10. mine — for digging
  11. mine — an explosive
  12. straw — dry grass
  13. prune — to trim
  14. hide — to keep secret
  15. degree — from a university
  16. wave — with your hand
  17. lash — an eyelash
  18. can — a tin
  19. straw — a straw man
  20. lash — to lash out
  21. can — to be able to
  22. degree — temperature
  23. can — a tin
  24. straw — to clutch at straws

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