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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: prune · bat · bound · spell · mine · straw · hand · bore

  1. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  2. How do you ________________ your surname?
  3. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  4. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  5. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  6. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  7. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  8. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  9. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  10. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  11. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  12. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  13. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  14. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  15. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  16. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  17. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  18. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  19. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  20. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  21. That was ________________ to happen.
  22. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  23. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  24. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.

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

Answer key

  1. bound — tied together
  2. spell — letters
  3. prune — the fruit
  4. bound — obliged
  5. bore — gave birth
  6. mine — an explosive
  7. hand — in cards
  8. mine — belonging to me
  9. bore — to tire
  10. bat — in an idiom
  11. straw — to clutch at straws
  12. bore — to drill
  13. prune — to trim
  14. prune — to trim
  15. straw — dry grass
  16. spell — a short time
  17. bat — for baseball
  18. straw — a straw man
  19. hand — part of the body
  20. spell — magic
  21. bound — certain
  22. hand — help
  23. mine — for digging
  24. bat — the animal

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