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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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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 · band · cabinet · prune · face · straw · tear · chest

  1. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  2. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  3. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  4. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  5. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  6. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  7. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  8. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  9. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  10. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  11. What do you think of the new ________________?
  12. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  13. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  14. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  15. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  16. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  17. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  18. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  19. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  20. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  21. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  22. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  23. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  24. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a ring
  2. straw — to clutch at straws
  3. tear — to rip
  4. firm — a company
  5. straw — a straw man
  6. face — to confront
  7. face — to point toward
  8. prune — the fruit
  9. band — a music group
  10. prune — to trim
  11. cabinet — ministers
  12. prune — to trim
  13. chest — of your body
  14. firm — decided
  15. cabinet — a cupboard
  16. tear — from crying
  17. cabinet — ministers
  18. face — part of the head
  19. band — a rubber band
  20. firm — steady
  21. chest — a box
  22. chest — of your body
  23. straw — dry grass
  24. tear — from crying

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