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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. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  2. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  3. When are we going to ________________?
  4. He works in a ________________ mill.
  5. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  6. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  7. False peace will not ________________.
  8. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  9. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  10. She's very handy with a ________________.
  11. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  12. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  13. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  14. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  15. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  16. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  17. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  18. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  19. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  20. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  21. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  22. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  23. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  24. A ________________ is just a dried plum.

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

Answer key

  1. prune — to trim
  2. safe — out of danger
  3. land — to come down
  4. saw — the tool
  5. field — farmland
  6. racket — for tennis
  7. last — to go on
  8. racket — a loud noise
  9. safe — a strongbox
  10. saw — the tool
  11. racket — for tennis
  12. land — ground
  13. field — a subject
  14. staff — employees
  15. staff — employees
  16. prune — to trim
  17. safe — out of danger
  18. field — for sport
  19. staff — a stick
  20. saw — past of 'see'
  21. last — final
  22. last — finally
  23. land — a country
  24. prune — the fruit

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