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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: leaves · mine · field · wind · prune · content · hand · charge

  1. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  2. The tickets are free of ________________.
  3. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  4. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  5. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  6. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  7. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  8. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  9. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  10. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  11. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  12. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  13. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  14. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  15. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  16. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  17. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  18. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  19. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  20. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  21. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  22. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  23. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  24. A ________________ is just a dried plum.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — belonging to me
  2. charge — a price
  3. content — happy
  4. leaves — to go away
  5. charge — in control
  6. hand — part of the body
  7. hand — help
  8. prune — to trim
  9. wind — moving air
  10. hand — in cards
  11. field — farmland
  12. field — a subject
  13. mine — an explosive
  14. content — videos and posts
  15. content — the amount
  16. leaves — of a tree
  17. wind — to turn a key
  18. prune — to trim
  19. leaves — lets stay
  20. charge — electricity
  21. wind — moving air
  22. field — for sport
  23. mine — for digging
  24. prune — the fruit

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