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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: fall · chair · prune · mate · pitcher · spring · wound · root

  1. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  2. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  3. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  4. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  5. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  6. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  7. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  8. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  9. He is an ace ________________.
  10. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  11. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  12. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  13. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  14. Have you found your soul ________________?
  15. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  16. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  17. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  18. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  19. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  20. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  21. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  22. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  23. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  24. The flowers bloom in the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wound — an injury
  2. prune — to trim
  3. spring — of water
  4. fall — to drop
  5. mate — to breed
  6. chair — to sit on
  7. pitcher — a jug
  8. root — of a word
  9. pitcher — in baseball
  10. chair — a professorship
  11. fall — the season
  12. pitcher — a jug
  13. spring — a coil
  14. mate — a partner
  15. fall — to drop
  16. prune — to trim
  17. root — the cause
  18. wound — past of 'wind'
  19. prune — the fruit
  20. wound — an injury
  21. mate — a friend
  22. root — of a plant
  23. chair — a leader
  24. spring — the season

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