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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: hand · mine · bear · rush · wind · tube · chip · prune

  1. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  2. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  3. That must've been a ________________.
  4. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  5. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  6. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  7. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  8. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  9. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  10. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  11. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  12. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  13. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  14. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  15. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  16. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  17. I'll be taking the ________________.
  18. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  19. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  20. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  21. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  22. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  23. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  24. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.

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

Answer key

  1. chip — for betting
  2. hand — help
  3. rush — a thrill
  4. rush — to hurry
  5. prune — to trim
  6. hand — part of the body
  7. prune — the fruit
  8. hand — in cards
  9. prune — to trim
  10. bear — to put up with
  11. mine — belonging to me
  12. tube — in a tire
  13. chip — in a computer
  14. tube — a container
  15. chip — to eat
  16. bear — the animal
  17. tube — the underground
  18. bear — the animal
  19. wind — moving air
  20. rush — hurry
  21. mine — for digging
  22. mine — an explosive
  23. wind — moving air
  24. wind — to turn a key

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