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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: fork · wind · cold · prune · stand · bound · roll · straw

  1. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  2. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  3. That was ________________ to happen.
  4. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  5. The water is too ________________.
  6. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  7. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  8. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  9. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  10. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  11. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  12. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  13. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  14. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  15. We're on a ________________ here.
  16. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  17. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  18. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  19. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  20. I can't ________________ this cold.
  21. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  22. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  23. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  24. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. straw — to clutch at straws
  2. wind — moving air
  3. bound — certain
  4. prune — to trim
  5. cold — not warm
  6. straw — dry grass
  7. roll — a list
  8. cold — the Cold War
  9. roll — a cake
  10. fork — to eat with
  11. stand — on your feet
  12. straw — a straw man
  13. bound — tied together
  14. fork — in a road
  15. roll — on a roll
  16. prune — the fruit
  17. wind — to turn a key
  18. cold — an illness
  19. wind — moving air
  20. stand — to bear
  21. prune — to trim
  22. fork — a garden tool
  23. bound — obliged
  24. stand — for spectators

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