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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: hide · rock · bat · ground · mine · spring · prune · wound

  1. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  2. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  3. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  4. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  5. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  6. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  7. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  8. There's no middle ________________.
  9. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  10. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  11. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  12. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  13. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  14. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  15. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  16. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  17. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  18. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  19. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  20. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  21. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  22. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  23. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  24. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.

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

Answer key

  1. prune — to trim
  2. prune — to trim
  3. wound — an injury
  4. rock — a stone
  5. wound — past of 'wind'
  6. mine — belonging to me
  7. hide — animal skin
  8. ground — a position
  9. mine — an explosive
  10. hide — to keep secret
  11. ground — the earth
  12. spring — a coil
  13. mine — for digging
  14. ground — crushed
  15. prune — the fruit
  16. bat — in an idiom
  17. spring — of water
  18. spring — the season
  19. wound — an injury
  20. rock — to move gently
  21. bat — the animal
  22. rock — music
  23. hide — to keep secret
  24. bat — for baseball

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