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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: tube · lean · kid · hide · degree · toast · prune · wind

  1. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  2. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  3. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  4. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  5. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  6. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  7. I'll be taking the ________________.
  8. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  9. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  10. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  11. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  12. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  13. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  14. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  15. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  16. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  17. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  18. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  19. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  20. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  21. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  22. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  23. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  24. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. hide — to keep secret
  2. wind — to turn a key
  3. toast — bread
  4. prune — to trim
  5. lean — thin
  6. kid — to tease
  7. tube — the underground
  8. tube — in a tire
  9. tube — a container
  10. prune — to trim
  11. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  12. toast — the most admired
  13. wind — moving air
  14. hide — to keep secret
  15. toast — a drink to someone
  16. lean — to bend
  17. prune — the fruit
  18. degree — an amount
  19. degree — from a university
  20. hide — animal skin
  21. lean — to rest against
  22. wind — moving air
  23. degree — temperature
  24. kid — child

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