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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 116 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: prune · straw · hide · saw · wind · cold · pass · pound

  1. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  2. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  3. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  4. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  5. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  6. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  7. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  8. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  9. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  10. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  11. She's very handy with a ________________.
  12. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  15. The water is too ________________.
  16. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  17. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  18. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  19. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  20. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  21. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  22. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  23. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  24. He works in a ________________ mill.

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

Answer key

  1. wind — moving air
  2. wind — to turn a key
  3. saw — past of 'see'
  4. prune — to trim
  5. prune — to trim
  6. straw — to clutch at straws
  7. straw — dry grass
  8. cold — the Cold War
  9. hide — to keep secret
  10. pass — to succeed
  11. saw — the tool
  12. pass — to spend time
  13. cold — an illness
  14. prune — the fruit
  15. cold — not warm
  16. pound — for dogs
  17. straw — a straw man
  18. wind — moving air
  19. pass — a permit
  20. pound — to hit hard
  21. pound — a weight
  22. hide — to keep secret
  23. hide — animal skin
  24. saw — the tool

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