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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.

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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: straw · prune · mouse · dip · wound · ground · race · wind

  1. There's no middle ________________.
  2. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  3. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  4. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  5. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  6. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  7. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  8. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  9. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  10. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  11. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  12. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  13. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  14. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  15. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  16. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  17. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  18. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  19. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  20. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  21. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  22. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  23. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  24. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.

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

Answer key

  1. ground — a position
  2. race — humankind
  3. mouse — the animal
  4. wind — moving air
  5. wind — to turn a key
  6. wind — moving air
  7. wound — past of 'wind'
  8. dip — to dunk
  9. prune — to trim
  10. prune — the fruit
  11. race — the arms race
  12. mouse — for a computer
  13. mouse — the animal
  14. ground — crushed
  15. dip — to sink
  16. straw — a straw man
  17. race — a contest
  18. wound — an injury
  19. ground — the earth
  20. prune — to trim
  21. wound — an injury
  22. straw — dry grass
  23. straw — to clutch at straws
  24. dip — a sauce

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