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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 116 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 · bass · squash · hand · stock · wind · fork · lean

  1. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  2. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  3. The ________________ market has crashed.
  4. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  5. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  6. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  7. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  8. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  9. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  10. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  11. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  12. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  13. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  14. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  15. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  16. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  17. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  18. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  19. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  20. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  21. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  22. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  23. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  24. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.

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

Answer key

  1. stock — goods
  2. wind — moving air
  3. stock — shares
  4. prune — to trim
  5. prune — to trim
  6. lean — to rest against
  7. fork — to eat with
  8. prune — the fruit
  9. hand — help
  10. lean — thin
  11. fork — a garden tool
  12. wind — to turn a key
  13. stock — a soup base
  14. bass — the instrument
  15. fork — in a road
  16. squash — the vegetable
  17. hand — in cards
  18. squash — the sport
  19. wind — moving air
  20. hand — part of the body
  21. squash — to crush
  22. lean — to bend
  23. bass — the fish
  24. bass — low music

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