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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: ground · leaves · hand · land · charge · sharp · snap · prune

  1. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  2. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  3. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  4. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  5. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  6. It's one o'clock ________________.
  7. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  8. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  9. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  10. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  11. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  12. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  13. The tickets are free of ________________.
  14. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  15. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  16. When are we going to ________________?
  17. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  18. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  19. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  20. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  21. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  22. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  23. There's no middle ________________.
  24. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.

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

Answer key

  1. charge — electricity
  2. leaves — of a tree
  3. hand — in cards
  4. charge — in control
  5. leaves — lets stay
  6. sharp — exactly
  7. prune — the fruit
  8. prune — to trim
  9. prune — to trim
  10. leaves — to go away
  11. ground — the earth
  12. land — ground
  13. charge — a price
  14. sharp — clever
  15. snap — to snap out of it
  16. land — to come down
  17. hand — part of the body
  18. sharp — with an edge
  19. ground — crushed
  20. hand — help
  21. snap — to speak sharply
  22. snap — to click
  23. ground — a position
  24. land — a country

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