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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.

Words on the sheet
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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: spell · prune · current · march · firm · mine · cold · pound

  1. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  2. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  3. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  4. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  5. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  6. How do you ________________ your surname?
  7. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  8. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  9. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  10. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  11. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  12. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  13. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  14. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  15. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  16. The water is too ________________.
  17. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  18. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  19. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  20. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  21. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  22. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  23. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  24. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.

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

Answer key

  1. firm — decided
  2. prune — to trim
  3. prune — the fruit
  4. prune — to trim
  5. march — the month
  6. spell — letters
  7. firm — a company
  8. spell — a short time
  9. cold — the Cold War
  10. mine — for digging
  11. march — the month
  12. cold — an illness
  13. mine — an explosive
  14. spell — magic
  15. current — electric
  16. cold — not warm
  17. march — music
  18. pound — to hit hard
  19. mine — belonging to me
  20. firm — steady
  21. pound — for dogs
  22. current — happening now
  23. current — of water
  24. pound — a weight

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