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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: firm · chest · file · mouse · prune · mine · face · ground

  1. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  2. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  3. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  4. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  5. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  6. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  7. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  8. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  9. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  10. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  11. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  12. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  13. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  14. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  15. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  16. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  17. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  18. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  19. There's no middle ________________.
  20. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  21. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  22. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  23. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  24. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.

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

Answer key

  1. firm — a company
  2. mouse — the animal
  3. firm — steady
  4. file — a tool
  5. prune — to trim
  6. ground — crushed
  7. prune — to trim
  8. mine — for digging
  9. face — to confront
  10. chest — of your body
  11. firm — decided
  12. mouse — the animal
  13. face — to point toward
  14. prune — the fruit
  15. chest — of your body
  16. mine — an explosive
  17. file — a line of people
  18. ground — the earth
  19. ground — a position
  20. chest — a box
  21. face — part of the head
  22. mouse — for a computer
  23. mine — belonging to me
  24. file — a document

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