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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 · wake · race · wind · prune · firm · charge · saw

  1. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  2. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  3. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  4. She's very handy with a ________________.
  5. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  6. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  7. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  8. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  9. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  10. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  11. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  12. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  13. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  14. The tickets are free of ________________.
  15. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  16. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  17. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  18. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  19. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  20. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  21. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  22. He works in a ________________ mill.
  23. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  24. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.

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

Answer key

  1. firm — steady
  2. wake — to stop sleeping
  3. race — humankind
  4. saw — the tool
  5. race — a contest
  6. prune — the fruit
  7. chest — of your body
  8. wind — moving air
  9. wake — before a funeral
  10. prune — to trim
  11. chest — a box
  12. charge — electricity
  13. firm — a company
  14. charge — a price
  15. race — the arms race
  16. saw — past of 'see'
  17. prune — to trim
  18. wake — a trail
  19. charge — in control
  20. wind — to turn a key
  21. wind — moving air
  22. saw — the tool
  23. chest — of your body
  24. firm — decided

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