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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 120 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. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  2. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  3. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  4. He is an ace ________________.
  5. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  6. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  7. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  8. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  9. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  10. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  11. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  12. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  13. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  14. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  15. That was ________________ to happen.
  16. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  17. False peace will not ________________.
  18. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  19. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  20. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  21. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  22. That was a fun ________________.
  23. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  24. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.

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

Answer key

  1. bound — tied together
  2. mine — belonging to me
  3. prune — the fruit
  4. pitcher — in baseball
  5. rock — music
  6. pitcher — a jug
  7. racket — a loud noise
  8. last — final
  9. prune — to trim
  10. racket — for tennis
  11. mine — an explosive
  12. mine — for digging
  13. rock — to move gently
  14. bound — obliged
  15. bound — certain
  16. rock — a stone
  17. last — to go on
  18. last — finally
  19. game — wild animals
  20. pitcher — a jug
  21. prune — to trim
  22. game — a match
  23. game — a kind of play
  24. racket — for tennis

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