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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: hand · mug · fan · net · prune · straw · rash · fall

  1. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  2. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  3. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  4. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  5. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  6. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  7. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  8. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  9. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  10. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  11. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  12. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  13. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  14. Don't do anything ________________.
  15. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  16. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  17. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  18. Where did you ________________ them?
  19. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  20. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  21. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  22. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  23. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  24. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.

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

Answer key

  1. net — after costs
  2. fan — a supporter
  3. prune — the fruit
  4. mug — a cup
  5. prune — to trim
  6. rash — on the skin
  7. straw — dry grass
  8. prune — to trim
  9. fan — a supporter
  10. net — in sport
  11. hand — part of the body
  12. hand — help
  13. mug — a face
  14. rash — hasty
  15. fan — to cool the air
  16. rash — a series
  17. fall — the season
  18. mug — to rob
  19. hand — in cards
  20. straw — a straw man
  21. net — for catching
  22. straw — to clutch at straws
  23. fall — to drop
  24. fall — to drop

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