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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: bank · spring · prune · straw · field · dip · mark · wind

  1. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  2. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  3. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  4. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  5. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  6. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  7. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  8. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  9. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  10. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  11. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  12. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  13. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  14. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  15. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  16. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  17. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  18. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  19. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  20. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  21. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  22. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  23. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  24. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wind — to turn a key
  2. mark — to pay attention
  3. spring — a coil
  4. field — for sport
  5. prune — the fruit
  6. dip — to sink
  7. mark — a grade
  8. bank — for money
  9. field — a subject
  10. straw — a straw man
  11. prune — to trim
  12. field — farmland
  13. prune — to trim
  14. wind — moving air
  15. bank — of a river
  16. bank — for money
  17. straw — to clutch at straws
  18. mark — a trace
  19. dip — a sauce
  20. wind — moving air
  21. dip — to dunk
  22. straw — dry grass
  23. spring — the season
  24. spring — of water

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