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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: prune · cold · file · lean · roll · face · ground · root

  1. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  2. The water is too ________________.
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  5. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  6. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  7. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  8. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  9. There's no middle ________________.
  10. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  11. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  12. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  13. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  14. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  15. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  16. We're on a ________________ here.
  17. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  18. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  19. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  20. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  21. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  22. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  23. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  24. Add some ________________ pepper to it.

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

Answer key

  1. prune — to trim
  2. cold — not warm
  3. cold — an illness
  4. root — the cause
  5. prune — the fruit
  6. face — to confront
  7. prune — to trim
  8. roll — a list
  9. ground — a position
  10. face — to point toward
  11. lean — thin
  12. roll — a cake
  13. root — of a plant
  14. file — a tool
  15. face — part of the head
  16. roll — on a roll
  17. cold — the Cold War
  18. file — a line of people
  19. ground — the earth
  20. lean — to rest against
  21. lean — to bend
  22. root — of a word
  23. file — a document
  24. ground — crushed

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