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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: chest · staff · net · prune · leaves · row · rash · fan

  1. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  2. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  3. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  4. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  5. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  6. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  7. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  8. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  9. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  10. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  11. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  12. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  13. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  14. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  15. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  16. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  17. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  18. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  19. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  20. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  21. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  22. Don't do anything ________________.
  23. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  24. The old man leaned on his ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. net — after costs
  2. row — a quarrel
  3. prune — to trim
  4. prune — the fruit
  5. rash — on the skin
  6. staff — employees
  7. chest — of your body
  8. leaves — of a tree
  9. chest — a box
  10. fan — a supporter
  11. prune — to trim
  12. leaves — to go away
  13. leaves — lets stay
  14. row — a line
  15. chest — of your body
  16. staff — employees
  17. net — in sport
  18. fan — to cool the air
  19. net — for catching
  20. row — to paddle
  21. fan — a supporter
  22. rash — hasty
  23. rash — a series
  24. staff — a stick

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