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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. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  3. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  4. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  5. When are we going to ________________?
  6. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  7. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  8. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  9. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  10. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  11. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  12. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  13. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  14. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  15. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  16. Have you met the new head ________________?
  17. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  18. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  19. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  20. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  21. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  22. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  23. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  24. We're on a ________________ here.

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

Answer key

  1. prune — to trim
  2. land — ground
  3. track — a song
  4. rest — what's left
  5. land — to come down
  6. roll — a cake
  7. rest — a break
  8. prune — to trim
  9. track — a path
  10. bat — for baseball
  11. bat — in an idiom
  12. track — to keep track
  13. coach — pulled by horses
  14. rest — what's left
  15. foot — the bottom
  16. coach — a trainer
  17. bat — the animal
  18. roll — a list
  19. foot — a measure
  20. prune — the fruit
  21. foot — part of the body
  22. land — a country
  23. coach — a trainer
  24. roll — on a 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