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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 · date · kick · spring · straw · race · hide · row

  1. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  2. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  3. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  4. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  5. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  6. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  7. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  8. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  9. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  10. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  11. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  12. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  13. Have you settled on a ________________?
  14. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  15. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  16. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  17. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  18. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  19. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  20. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  21. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  22. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  23. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  24. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.

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

Answer key

  1. straw — dry grass
  2. spring — a coil
  3. race — a contest
  4. straw — a straw man
  5. race — the arms race
  6. row — a quarrel
  7. prune — the fruit
  8. race — humankind
  9. straw — to clutch at straws
  10. prune — to trim
  11. spring — of water
  12. kick — in football
  13. date — on the calendar
  14. date — on the calendar
  15. date — the fruit
  16. hide — to keep secret
  17. prune — to trim
  18. kick — a thrill
  19. row — a line
  20. hide — animal skin
  21. kick — with a leg
  22. hide — to keep secret
  23. spring — the season
  24. row — to paddle

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