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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: chair · prune · spring · cell · mouse · date · scale · bound

  1. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  2. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  3. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  4. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  5. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  6. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  7. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  8. Have you settled on a ________________?
  9. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  10. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  11. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  12. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  13. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  14. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  15. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  16. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  17. He was locked up in a ________________.
  18. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  19. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  20. That was ________________ to happen.
  21. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  22. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  23. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  24. We are ________________ to obey laws.

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

Answer key

  1. mouse — the animal
  2. prune — to trim
  3. chair — to sit on
  4. chair — a leader
  5. spring — the season
  6. prune — the fruit
  7. spring — a coil
  8. date — on the calendar
  9. chair — a professorship
  10. cell — in biology
  11. scale — in music
  12. cell — a phone
  13. bound — tied together
  14. spring — of water
  15. mouse — the animal
  16. date — on the calendar
  17. cell — in a prison
  18. mouse — for a computer
  19. scale — size or range
  20. bound — certain
  21. prune — to trim
  22. scale — for weighing
  23. date — the fruit
  24. bound — obliged

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