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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: game · bore · snap · wind · pitcher · kick · hand · prune

  1. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  2. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  3. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  4. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  5. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  6. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  7. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  8. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  9. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  10. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  11. That was a fun ________________.
  12. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  13. He is an ace ________________.
  14. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  15. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  16. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  17. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  18. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  19. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  20. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  21. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  22. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  23. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  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. hand — part of the body
  2. prune — to trim
  3. hand — help
  4. snap — to click
  5. snap — to snap out of it
  6. game — wild animals
  7. wind — moving air
  8. prune — to trim
  9. wind — moving air
  10. pitcher — a jug
  11. game — a match
  12. game — a kind of play
  13. pitcher — in baseball
  14. kick — in football
  15. wind — to turn a key
  16. bore — gave birth
  17. kick — a thrill
  18. bore — to drill
  19. kick — with a leg
  20. bore — to tire
  21. hand — in cards
  22. snap — to speak sharply
  23. pitcher — a jug
  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