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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 120 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: prune · chest · straw · spell · patient · cell · pop · kick

  1. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  2. He was locked up in a ________________.
  3. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  4. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  5. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  6. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  7. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  8. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  9. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  10. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  11. You don't need to ________________ round.
  12. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  13. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  14. How do you ________________ your surname?
  15. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  16. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  17. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  18. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  19. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  20. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  21. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  22. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  23. We're almost out of ________________.
  24. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.

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

Answer key

  1. cell — a phone
  2. cell — in a prison
  3. prune — to trim
  4. patient — a sick person
  5. prune — to trim
  6. cell — in biology
  7. prune — the fruit
  8. patient — a sick person
  9. straw — to clutch at straws
  10. kick — in football
  11. pop — to visit
  12. spell — magic
  13. chest — of your body
  14. spell — letters
  15. straw — dry grass
  16. chest — a box
  17. patient — calm and waiting
  18. kick — a thrill
  19. straw — a straw man
  20. pop — music
  21. chest — of your body
  22. spell — a short time
  23. pop — soda
  24. kick — with a leg

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