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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: net · staff · land · can · chest · wind · prune · ground

  1. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  2. When are we going to ________________?
  3. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  4. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  5. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  6. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  7. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  8. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  9. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  10. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  11. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  12. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  13. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  14. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  15. There's no middle ________________.
  16. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  17. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  18. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  19. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  20. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  21. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  22. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  23. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  24. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.

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

Answer key

  1. wind — moving air
  2. land — to come down
  3. can — to be able to
  4. chest — of your body
  5. staff — a stick
  6. ground — crushed
  7. ground — the earth
  8. prune — to trim
  9. chest — a box
  10. chest — of your body
  11. land — a country
  12. can — a tin
  13. land — ground
  14. prune — to trim
  15. ground — a position
  16. wind — moving air
  17. net — in sport
  18. staff — employees
  19. can — a tin
  20. net — after costs
  21. net — for catching
  22. wind — to turn a key
  23. prune — the fruit
  24. staff — employees

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