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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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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: lean · prune · file · mine · wake · bass · clip · bore

  1. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  2. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  3. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  4. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  5. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  6. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  7. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  8. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  9. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  10. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  11. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  12. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  13. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  14. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  15. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  16. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  17. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  18. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  19. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  20. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  21. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  22. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  23. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  24. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — for digging
  2. lean — thin
  3. lean — to bend
  4. bore — to tire
  5. wake — to stop sleeping
  6. mine — belonging to me
  7. wake — a trail
  8. file — a line of people
  9. bass — the fish
  10. bore — to drill
  11. clip — to cut
  12. bore — gave birth
  13. prune — the fruit
  14. file — a tool
  15. wake — before a funeral
  16. clip — a video
  17. bass — low music
  18. bass — the instrument
  19. file — a document
  20. mine — an explosive
  21. clip — for paper
  22. lean — to rest against
  23. prune — to trim
  24. prune — to trim

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