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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 120 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: pop · prune · lie · row · root · cold · land · hand

  1. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  2. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  3. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  4. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  5. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  6. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  7. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  8. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  9. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  10. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  11. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  12. We're almost out of ________________.
  13. When are we going to ________________?
  14. The water is too ________________.
  15. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  16. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  17. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  18. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  19. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  20. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  21. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  22. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  23. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  24. You don't need to ________________ round.

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

Answer key

  1. lie — an untruth
  2. cold — the Cold War
  3. lie — an untruth
  4. lie — to recline
  5. hand — in cards
  6. pop — music
  7. prune — to trim
  8. hand — part of the body
  9. prune — the fruit
  10. root — of a word
  11. row — a line
  12. pop — soda
  13. land — to come down
  14. cold — not warm
  15. root — the cause
  16. prune — to trim
  17. hand — help
  18. row — to paddle
  19. root — of a plant
  20. land — ground
  21. row — a quarrel
  22. land — a country
  23. cold — an illness
  24. pop — to visit

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