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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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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: mine · content · fall · prune · can · saw · deal · wave

  1. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  2. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  3. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  4. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  5. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  6. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  7. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  8. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  9. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  10. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  11. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  12. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  13. He works in a ________________ mill.
  14. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  15. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  16. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  17. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  18. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  19. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  20. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  21. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  22. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  23. She's very handy with a ________________.
  24. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.

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

Answer key

  1. content — happy
  2. can — to be able to
  3. content — videos and posts
  4. deal — a big deal
  5. mine — belonging to me
  6. can — a tin
  7. fall — the season
  8. wave — of the sea
  9. saw — past of 'see'
  10. can — a tin
  11. prune — to trim
  12. fall — to drop
  13. saw — the tool
  14. wave — with your hand
  15. deal — an agreement
  16. deal — to handle
  17. mine — for digging
  18. mine — an explosive
  19. wave — a sudden rise
  20. prune — the fruit
  21. content — the amount
  22. fall — to drop
  23. saw — the tool
  24. prune — to trim

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