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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 · deal · prune · cold · lash · rash · mine · lean

  1. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  2. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  3. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  4. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  5. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  6. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  7. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  8. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  9. The water is too ________________.
  10. Don't do anything ________________.
  11. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  12. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  13. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  14. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  15. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  16. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  17. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  18. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  19. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  20. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  21. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  22. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  23. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  24. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — of your body
  2. rash — on the skin
  3. chest — a box
  4. prune — to trim
  5. deal — an agreement
  6. cold — an illness
  7. prune — the fruit
  8. lean — to rest against
  9. cold — not warm
  10. rash — hasty
  11. lash — a whip stroke
  12. mine — an explosive
  13. prune — to trim
  14. mine — belonging to me
  15. lash — to lash out
  16. deal — to handle
  17. chest — of your body
  18. lean — to bend
  19. mine — for digging
  20. deal — a big deal
  21. lean — thin
  22. cold — the Cold War
  23. lash — an eyelash
  24. rash — a series

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