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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: prune · kid · saw · rush · snap · arm · patient · spring

  1. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  2. That must've been a ________________.
  3. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  4. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  5. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  6. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  7. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  8. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  9. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  10. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  11. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  12. She's very handy with a ________________.
  13. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  14. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  15. He works in a ________________ mill.
  16. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  17. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  18. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  19. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  20. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  21. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  22. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  23. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  24. My father caught me by the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — the season
  2. rush — a thrill
  3. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  4. rush — hurry
  5. prune — to trim
  6. spring — of water
  7. spring — a coil
  8. rush — to hurry
  9. snap — to click
  10. prune — the fruit
  11. saw — past of 'see'
  12. saw — the tool
  13. patient — calm and waiting
  14. patient — a sick person
  15. saw — the tool
  16. patient — a sick person
  17. kid — child
  18. prune — to trim
  19. kid — to tease
  20. arm — a part of something
  21. arm — part of the body
  22. snap — to speak sharply
  23. snap — to snap out of it
  24. arm — part of the body

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