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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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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 · kid · ground · wind · chest · mine · foot · straw

  1. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  2. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  3. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  4. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  5. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  6. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  7. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  8. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  9. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  10. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  11. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  12. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  13. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  14. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  15. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  16. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  17. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  18. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  19. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  20. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  21. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  22. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  23. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  24. There's no middle ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. ground — the earth
  2. foot — part of the body
  3. kid — to tease
  4. wind — to turn a key
  5. mine — an explosive
  6. chest — of your body
  7. wind — moving air
  8. chest — a box
  9. wind — moving air
  10. straw — dry grass
  11. foot — a measure
  12. ground — crushed
  13. straw — a straw man
  14. straw — to clutch at straws
  15. foot — the bottom
  16. prune — the fruit
  17. prune — to trim
  18. prune — to trim
  19. chest — of your body
  20. mine — belonging to me
  21. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  22. mine — for digging
  23. kid — child
  24. ground — a position

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