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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: season · hand · cabinet · land · chair · lean · wind · prune

  1. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  2. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  3. What do you think of the new ________________?
  4. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  5. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  6. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  7. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  8. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  9. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  10. Did you ________________ the meat?
  11. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  12. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  13. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  14. When are we going to ________________?
  15. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  16. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  17. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  18. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  19. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  20. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  21. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  22. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  23. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  24. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cabinet — ministers
  2. season — of the year
  3. cabinet — ministers
  4. prune — to trim
  5. lean — to rest against
  6. chair — a professorship
  7. cabinet — a cupboard
  8. wind — to turn a key
  9. prune — the fruit
  10. season — to add flavour
  11. wind — moving air
  12. hand — part of the body
  13. land — a country
  14. land — to come down
  15. lean — to bend
  16. chair — a leader
  17. prune — to trim
  18. wind — moving air
  19. hand — help
  20. land — ground
  21. season — in sport
  22. hand — in cards
  23. lean — thin
  24. chair — to sit on

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