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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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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: lean · hand · rest · straw · band · wound · prune · chest

  1. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  2. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  3. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  4. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  5. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  6. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  7. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  8. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  9. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  10. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  11. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  12. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  13. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  14. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  15. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  16. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  17. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  18. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  19. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  20. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  21. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  22. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  23. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  24. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a music group
  2. prune — the fruit
  3. wound — an injury
  4. hand — part of the body
  5. chest — a box
  6. band — a rubber band
  7. straw — to clutch at straws
  8. wound — past of 'wind'
  9. rest — a break
  10. band — a ring
  11. prune — to trim
  12. straw — dry grass
  13. rest — what's left
  14. hand — in cards
  15. lean — to bend
  16. prune — to trim
  17. straw — a straw man
  18. hand — help
  19. lean — thin
  20. chest — of your body
  21. chest — of your body
  22. wound — an injury
  23. rest — what's left
  24. lean — to rest against

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