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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: foot · wound · lean · prune · chair · tube · cell · pit

  1. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  2. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  3. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  4. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  5. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  6. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  7. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  8. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  9. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  10. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  11. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  12. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  13. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  14. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  15. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  16. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  17. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  18. I'll be taking the ________________.
  19. He was locked up in a ________________.
  20. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  21. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  22. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  23. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  24. I have a corn on my right ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wound — an injury
  2. pit — a fruit stone
  3. wound — past of 'wind'
  4. pit — in a race
  5. lean — to bend
  6. cell — a phone
  7. chair — a leader
  8. cell — in biology
  9. foot — a measure
  10. pit — a hole
  11. tube — a container
  12. prune — to trim
  13. prune — the fruit
  14. chair — to sit on
  15. tube — in a tire
  16. chair — a professorship
  17. lean — thin
  18. tube — the underground
  19. cell — in a prison
  20. lean — to rest against
  21. prune — to trim
  22. wound — an injury
  23. foot — the bottom
  24. foot — 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