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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 120 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: wave · land · mine · prune · last · swing · stock · tube

  1. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  2. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  3. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  4. When are we going to ________________?
  5. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  6. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  7. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  8. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  9. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  10. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  11. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  12. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  13. False peace will not ________________.
  14. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  15. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  16. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  17. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  18. David sat on the ________________.
  19. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  20. I'll be taking the ________________.
  21. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  22. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  23. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  24. The ________________ market has crashed.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — an explosive
  2. land — ground
  3. wave — with your hand
  4. land — to come down
  5. wave — a sudden rise
  6. last — final
  7. last — finally
  8. prune — to trim
  9. swing — in golf
  10. prune — to trim
  11. prune — the fruit
  12. stock — a soup base
  13. last — to go on
  14. mine — belonging to me
  15. tube — in a tire
  16. land — a country
  17. stock — goods
  18. swing — to play on
  19. swing — music
  20. tube — the underground
  21. mine — for digging
  22. tube — a container
  23. wave — of the sea
  24. stock — shares

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