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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: present · straw · ball · nail · prune · hand · mine · scale

  1. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  2. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  3. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  4. The King held a masked ________________.
  5. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  6. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  7. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  8. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  9. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  10. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  11. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  12. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  13. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  14. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  15. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  16. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  17. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  18. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  19. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  20. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  21. The ________________ went through the wall.
  22. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  23. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  24. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — for digging
  2. prune — to trim
  3. prune — the fruit
  4. ball — a dance
  5. straw — to clutch at straws
  6. hand — in cards
  7. nail — for a hammer
  8. hand — help
  9. prune — to trim
  10. mine — belonging to me
  11. hand — part of the body
  12. present — there
  13. present — the time now
  14. mine — an explosive
  15. straw — dry grass
  16. nail — on a finger
  17. ball — a round shape
  18. ball — a great time
  19. straw — a straw man
  20. scale — size or range
  21. nail — for a hammer
  22. present — a gift
  23. scale — for weighing
  24. scale — in music

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