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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. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  3. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  4. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  5. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  6. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  7. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  8. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  9. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  10. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  11. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  12. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  13. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  14. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  15. The ball is in your ________________.
  16. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  17. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  18. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  19. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  20. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  21. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  22. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  23. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  24. How do you ________________ your surname?

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

Answer key

  1. prune — to trim
  2. fork — a garden tool
  3. spell — a short time
  4. face — to point toward
  5. craft — a handicraft
  6. court — of law
  7. spring — the season
  8. net — for catching
  9. prune — the fruit
  10. spring — a coil
  11. spring — of water
  12. craft — a skill
  13. fork — to eat with
  14. face — part of the head
  15. court — for sport
  16. net — after costs
  17. fork — in a road
  18. face — to confront
  19. net — in sport
  20. prune — to trim
  21. court — of a king
  22. spell — magic
  23. craft — boats
  24. spell — letters

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