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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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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: prune · mine · band · wind · chest · rash · fork · bulb

  1. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  2. The light ________________ burned out.
  3. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  4. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  5. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  6. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  7. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  8. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  9. Don't do anything ________________.
  10. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  11. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  12. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  13. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  14. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  15. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  16. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  17. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  18. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  19. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  20. I've got to change the light ________________.
  21. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  22. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  23. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  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. prune — the fruit
  2. bulb — for light
  3. band — a music group
  4. mine — belonging to me
  5. band — a ring
  6. rash — on the skin
  7. mine — an explosive
  8. fork — in a road
  9. rash — hasty
  10. mine — for digging
  11. prune — to trim
  12. chest — of your body
  13. wind — moving air
  14. fork — to eat with
  15. band — a rubber band
  16. chest — a box
  17. prune — to trim
  18. rash — a series
  19. fork — a garden tool
  20. bulb — for light
  21. chest — of your body
  22. bulb — of a plant
  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