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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: season · row · prune · mine · file · bulb · content · arm

  1. Did you ________________ the meat?
  2. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  3. My father caught me by the ________________.
  4. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  5. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  6. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  7. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  8. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  9. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  10. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  11. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  12. The light ________________ burned out.
  13. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  14. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  15. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  16. I've got to change the light ________________.
  17. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  18. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  19. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  20. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  21. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  22. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  23. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  24. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.

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

Answer key

  1. season — to add flavour
  2. mine — belonging to me
  3. arm — part of the body
  4. content — videos and posts
  5. file — a line of people
  6. prune — to trim
  7. arm — a part of something
  8. prune — the fruit
  9. row — a quarrel
  10. season — in sport
  11. content — happy
  12. bulb — for light
  13. bulb — of a plant
  14. prune — to trim
  15. file — a document
  16. bulb — for light
  17. row — a line
  18. mine — an explosive
  19. content — the amount
  20. row — to paddle
  21. season — of the year
  22. file — a tool
  23. mine — for digging
  24. arm — part of the body

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