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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: mine · fan · band · present · wind · chest · pitcher · prune

  1. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  2. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  3. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  4. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  5. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  6. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  7. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  8. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  9. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  10. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  11. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  12. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  13. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  14. He is an ace ________________.
  15. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  16. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  17. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  18. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  19. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  20. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  21. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  22. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  23. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  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. present — the time now
  2. band — a rubber band
  3. pitcher — a jug
  4. wind — moving air
  5. wind — to turn a key
  6. fan — a supporter
  7. mine — belonging to me
  8. prune — to trim
  9. prune — the fruit
  10. present — there
  11. wind — moving air
  12. present — a gift
  13. mine — an explosive
  14. pitcher — in baseball
  15. chest — of your body
  16. fan — a supporter
  17. pitcher — a jug
  18. chest — a box
  19. mine — for digging
  20. prune — to trim
  21. band — a music group
  22. fan — to cool the air
  23. band — a ring
  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