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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: pound · straw · prune · wake · nail · bore · clip · chest

  1. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  2. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  3. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  4. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  5. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  6. The ________________ went through the wall.
  7. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  8. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  9. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  10. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  11. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  12. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  13. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  14. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  15. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  16. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  17. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  18. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  19. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  20. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  21. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  22. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  23. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  24. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.

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

Answer key

  1. straw — dry grass
  2. bore — gave birth
  3. straw — a straw man
  4. nail — on a finger
  5. wake — before a funeral
  6. nail — for a hammer
  7. chest — a box
  8. bore — to tire
  9. nail — for a hammer
  10. prune — to trim
  11. wake — to stop sleeping
  12. prune — the fruit
  13. clip — for paper
  14. bore — to drill
  15. clip — a video
  16. prune — to trim
  17. pound — to hit hard
  18. chest — of your body
  19. pound — a weight
  20. pound — for dogs
  21. clip — to cut
  22. straw — to clutch at straws
  23. chest — of your body
  24. wake — a trail

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