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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: toast · mine · prune · wind · cue · straw · band · saw

  1. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  2. She's very handy with a ________________.
  3. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  4. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  5. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  6. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  7. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  8. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  9. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  10. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  11. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  12. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  13. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  14. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  15. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  16. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  17. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  18. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  19. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  20. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  21. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  22. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  23. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  24. He works in a ________________ mill.

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

Answer key

  1. toast — the most admired
  2. saw — the tool
  3. straw — to clutch at straws
  4. band — a ring
  5. cue — a hint
  6. wind — moving air
  7. straw — dry grass
  8. mine — belonging to me
  9. prune — the fruit
  10. saw — past of 'see'
  11. prune — to trim
  12. wind — to turn a key
  13. band — a rubber band
  14. mine — an explosive
  15. prune — to trim
  16. straw — a straw man
  17. cue — for pool
  18. cue — a signal
  19. mine — for digging
  20. band — a music group
  21. toast — a drink to someone
  22. toast — bread
  23. wind — moving air
  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