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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: race · prune · bank · sharp · saw · hand · cold · mate

  1. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  2. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  3. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  4. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  5. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  6. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  7. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  8. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  9. The water is too ________________.
  10. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  11. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  12. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  13. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  14. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. She's very handy with a ________________.
  17. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  18. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  19. Have you found your soul ________________?
  20. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  21. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  22. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  23. He works in a ________________ mill.
  24. It's one o'clock ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — in cards
  2. hand — part of the body
  3. prune — to trim
  4. sharp — with an edge
  5. prune — the fruit
  6. sharp — clever
  7. bank — for money
  8. hand — help
  9. cold — not warm
  10. race — humankind
  11. prune — to trim
  12. mate — to breed
  13. mate — a friend
  14. cold — an illness
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. saw — the tool
  17. bank — of a river
  18. saw — past of 'see'
  19. mate — a partner
  20. bank — for money
  21. race — a contest
  22. race — the arms race
  23. saw — the tool
  24. sharp — exactly

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