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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: arm · prune · snap · mark · wound · bowl · mine · cold

  1. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  2. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  3. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  4. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  5. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  6. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  7. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  8. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  9. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  10. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  11. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  12. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  13. The water is too ________________.
  14. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  15. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  16. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  17. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  18. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  19. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  20. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  21. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  22. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  23. My father caught me by the ________________.
  24. She got the top ________________ in the exam.

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

Answer key

  1. wound — an injury
  2. mine — belonging to me
  3. arm — a part of something
  4. snap — to snap out of it
  5. prune — to trim
  6. snap — to click
  7. mark — a trace
  8. wound — past of 'wind'
  9. mark — to pay attention
  10. cold — the Cold War
  11. bowl — to roll
  12. mine — an explosive
  13. cold — not warm
  14. snap — to speak sharply
  15. arm — part of the body
  16. wound — an injury
  17. prune — to trim
  18. prune — the fruit
  19. mine — for digging
  20. cold — an illness
  21. bowl — a dish
  22. bowl — a football final
  23. arm — part of the body
  24. mark — a grade

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