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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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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: chip · kick · rest · club · mine · wound · prune · tear

  1. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  2. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  3. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  4. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  5. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  6. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  7. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  8. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  9. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  10. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  11. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  12. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  13. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  14. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  15. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  16. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  17. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  18. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  19. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  20. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  21. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  22. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  23. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  24. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — an explosive
  2. mine — belonging to me
  3. kick — a thrill
  4. tear — from crying
  5. club — for golf
  6. rest — what's left
  7. tear — from crying
  8. club — a group
  9. wound — an injury
  10. chip — for betting
  11. rest — a break
  12. prune — to trim
  13. chip — to eat
  14. kick — with a leg
  15. club — for dancing
  16. wound — past of 'wind'
  17. chip — in a computer
  18. mine — for digging
  19. tear — to rip
  20. kick — in football
  21. wound — an injury
  22. prune — the fruit
  23. prune — to trim
  24. rest — what's left

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