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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: sharp · land · mouse · saw · rock · wound · chest · prune

  1. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  2. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  3. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  4. He works in a ________________ mill.
  5. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  6. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  7. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  8. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  9. She's very handy with a ________________.
  10. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  11. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  12. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  13. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  14. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  15. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  16. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  17. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  18. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  19. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  20. It's one o'clock ________________.
  21. When are we going to ________________?
  22. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  23. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  24. We were using a ________________ as a seat.

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

Answer key

  1. land — ground
  2. wound — an injury
  3. chest — of your body
  4. saw — the tool
  5. mouse — for a computer
  6. prune — to trim
  7. mouse — the animal
  8. wound — past of 'wind'
  9. saw — the tool
  10. rock — to move gently
  11. sharp — clever
  12. chest — of your body
  13. sharp — with an edge
  14. chest — a box
  15. land — a country
  16. wound — an injury
  17. mouse — the animal
  18. saw — past of 'see'
  19. rock — music
  20. sharp — exactly
  21. land — to come down
  22. prune — to trim
  23. prune — the fruit
  24. rock — a stone

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