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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. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  2. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  3. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  4. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  5. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  6. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  7. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  8. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  9. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  10. Did you ________________ the meat?
  11. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  12. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  13. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  14. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  15. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  16. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  17. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  18. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  19. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  20. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  21. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  22. False peace will not ________________.
  23. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  24. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. prune — to trim
  2. mine — belonging to me
  3. rule — to rule out
  4. last — final
  5. track — to keep track
  6. mine — for digging
  7. track — a song
  8. prune — the fruit
  9. stem — to come from
  10. season — to add flavour
  11. rule — government
  12. season — of the year
  13. mine — an explosive
  14. march — the month
  15. stem — a stem cell
  16. march — the month
  17. track — a path
  18. march — music
  19. season — in sport
  20. rule — a law
  21. last — finally
  22. last — to go on
  23. prune — to trim
  24. stem — of a plant

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