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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: sharp · prune · club · chest · present · land · hand · bore

  1. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  2. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  3. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  4. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  5. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  6. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  7. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  8. It's one o'clock ________________.
  9. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  10. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  11. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  12. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  13. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  14. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  15. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  16. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  17. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  18. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  19. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  20. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  21. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  22. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  23. When are we going to ________________?
  24. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.

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

Answer key

  1. present — a gift
  2. sharp — clever
  3. land — a country
  4. present — the time now
  5. chest — of your body
  6. chest — of your body
  7. hand — in cards
  8. sharp — exactly
  9. hand — help
  10. bore — to drill
  11. bore — to tire
  12. sharp — with an edge
  13. land — ground
  14. club — for golf
  15. bore — gave birth
  16. prune — to trim
  17. prune — the fruit
  18. club — a group
  19. present — there
  20. club — for dancing
  21. hand — part of the body
  22. chest — a box
  23. land — to come down
  24. prune — to trim

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