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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: cap · patient · stem · chest · file · cue · mine · prune

  1. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  2. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  3. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  4. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  5. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  6. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  7. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  8. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  9. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  10. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  11. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  12. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  13. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  14. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  15. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  16. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  17. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  18. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  19. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  20. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  21. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  22. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  23. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  24. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. prune — to trim
  2. cue — a signal
  3. cue — a hint
  4. patient — a sick person
  5. mine — belonging to me
  6. mine — for digging
  7. cap — a hat
  8. file — a tool
  9. patient — a sick person
  10. prune — the fruit
  11. mine — an explosive
  12. stem — a stem cell
  13. stem — to come from
  14. cap — a lid
  15. cap — of ice
  16. stem — of a plant
  17. patient — calm and waiting
  18. cue — for pool
  19. chest — of your body
  20. file — a line of people
  21. file — a document
  22. prune — to trim
  23. chest — a box
  24. chest — of your body

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