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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: staff · bass · wound · prune · land · sharp · tube · lash

  1. I'll be taking the ________________.
  2. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  3. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  4. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  5. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  6. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  7. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  8. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  9. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  10. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  11. It's one o'clock ________________.
  12. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  13. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  14. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  15. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  16. When are we going to ________________?
  17. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  18. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  19. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  20. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  21. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  22. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  23. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  24. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.

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

Answer key

  1. tube — the underground
  2. staff — employees
  3. tube — in a tire
  4. wound — past of 'wind'
  5. sharp — with an edge
  6. lash — a whip stroke
  7. prune — the fruit
  8. wound — an injury
  9. staff — a stick
  10. prune — to trim
  11. sharp — exactly
  12. bass — low music
  13. land — a country
  14. land — ground
  15. bass — the fish
  16. land — to come down
  17. tube — a container
  18. lash — an eyelash
  19. staff — employees
  20. bass — the instrument
  21. sharp — clever
  22. wound — an injury
  23. lash — to lash out
  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