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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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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: chest · roll · fall · wind · rash · saw · prune · plane

  1. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  2. The ________________ took off on time.
  3. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  4. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  5. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  6. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  7. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  8. He works in a ________________ mill.
  9. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  10. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  11. We're on a ________________ here.
  12. She's very handy with a ________________.
  13. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  14. Don't do anything ________________.
  15. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  16. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  17. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  18. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  19. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  20. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  21. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  22. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  23. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  24. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.

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

Answer key

  1. prune — to trim
  2. plane — an aircraft
  3. roll — a cake
  4. plane — in geometry
  5. chest — of your body
  6. saw — past of 'see'
  7. fall — the season
  8. saw — the tool
  9. prune — to trim
  10. wind — moving air
  11. roll — on a roll
  12. saw — the tool
  13. fall — to drop
  14. rash — hasty
  15. prune — the fruit
  16. wind — to turn a key
  17. wind — moving air
  18. plane — a tool
  19. fall — to drop
  20. chest — of your body
  21. roll — a list
  22. chest — a box
  23. rash — on the skin
  24. rash — a series

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