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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: hand · prune · dip · wave · wind · field · rule · lean

  1. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  2. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  3. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  4. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  5. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  6. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  7. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  8. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  9. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  10. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  11. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  12. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  13. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  14. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  15. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  16. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  17. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  18. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  19. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  20. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  21. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  22. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  23. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  24. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.

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

Answer key

  1. lean — to rest against
  2. wind — moving air
  3. dip — to dunk
  4. prune — to trim
  5. prune — to trim
  6. wave — with your hand
  7. prune — the fruit
  8. field — a subject
  9. rule — to rule out
  10. hand — help
  11. wind — moving air
  12. wave — of the sea
  13. field — farmland
  14. dip — a sauce
  15. rule — government
  16. lean — to bend
  17. hand — in cards
  18. field — for sport
  19. lean — thin
  20. rule — a law
  21. wind — to turn a key
  22. wave — a sudden rise
  23. hand — part of the body
  24. dip — to sink

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