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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: kick · sharp · face · net · prune · rest · spell · wound

  1. How do you ________________ your surname?
  2. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  3. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  4. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  5. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  6. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  7. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  8. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  9. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  10. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  11. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  12. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  13. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  14. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  15. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  16. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  17. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  18. It's one o'clock ________________.
  19. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  20. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  21. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  22. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  23. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  24. A ________________ is just a dried plum.

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

Answer key

  1. spell — letters
  2. prune — to trim
  3. kick — in football
  4. wound — an injury
  5. net — in sport
  6. sharp — clever
  7. kick — with a leg
  8. sharp — with an edge
  9. face — to confront
  10. kick — a thrill
  11. spell — a short time
  12. rest — what's left
  13. spell — magic
  14. rest — what's left
  15. prune — to trim
  16. rest — a break
  17. net — for catching
  18. sharp — exactly
  19. face — to point toward
  20. wound — past of 'wind'
  21. face — part of the head
  22. net — after costs
  23. wound — an injury
  24. prune — the fruit

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