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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 · cold · bound · charge · land · key · sharp · lash

  1. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  2. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  5. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  6. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  7. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  8. The tickets are free of ________________.
  9. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  10. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  11. This piece is in a major ________________.
  12. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  13. That was ________________ to happen.
  14. The water is too ________________.
  15. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  16. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  17. When are we going to ________________?
  18. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  19. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  20. It's one o'clock ________________.
  21. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  22. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  23. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  24. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.

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

Answer key

  1. land — ground
  2. sharp — with an edge
  3. cold — an illness
  4. cold — the Cold War
  5. lash — a whip stroke
  6. land — a country
  7. lash — an eyelash
  8. charge — a price
  9. charge — electricity
  10. lash — to lash out
  11. key — in music
  12. bound — tied together
  13. bound — certain
  14. cold — not warm
  15. bound — obliged
  16. sharp — clever
  17. land — to come down
  18. key — for a lock
  19. charge — in control
  20. sharp — exactly
  21. prune — to trim
  22. prune — the fruit
  23. key — the most important part
  24. prune — to trim

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