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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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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: hide · straw · arm · prune · wind · file · wave · march

  1. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  2. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  3. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  4. My father caught me by the ________________.
  5. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  6. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  7. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  8. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  9. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  10. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  11. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  12. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  13. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  14. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  15. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  16. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  17. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  18. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  19. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  20. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  21. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  22. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  23. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  24. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.

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

Answer key

  1. prune — to trim
  2. march — the month
  3. wind — moving air
  4. arm — part of the body
  5. straw — dry grass
  6. wave — a sudden rise
  7. wind — to turn a key
  8. file — a tool
  9. arm — part of the body
  10. march — music
  11. hide — to keep secret
  12. hide — to keep secret
  13. arm — a part of something
  14. prune — the fruit
  15. straw — to clutch at straws
  16. wave — of the sea
  17. hide — animal skin
  18. wind — moving air
  19. file — a document
  20. march — the month
  21. file — a line of people
  22. straw — a straw man
  23. wave — with your hand
  24. prune — to trim

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