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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 in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  2. There's no middle ________________.
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  5. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  6. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  7. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  8. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  9. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  10. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  11. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  12. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  13. The water is too ________________.
  14. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  15. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  18. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  19. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  20. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  21. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  22. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  23. False peace will not ________________.
  24. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.

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

Answer key

  1. prune — to trim
  2. ground — a position
  3. cold — an illness
  4. fork — a garden tool
  5. last — final
  6. patient — calm and waiting
  7. prune — to trim
  8. fork — in a road
  9. patient — a sick person
  10. ground — crushed
  11. bowl — a dish
  12. bowl — a football final
  13. cold — not warm
  14. perch — the fish
  15. ground — the earth
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. perch — for a bird
  18. prune — the fruit
  19. perch — for a bird
  20. last — finally
  21. fork — to eat with
  22. patient — a sick person
  23. last — to go on
  24. bowl — to roll

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