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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. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  2. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  3. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  4. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  5. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  6. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  7. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  8. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  9. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  10. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  11. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  12. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  13. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  14. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  15. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  16. False peace will not ________________.
  17. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  18. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  19. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  20. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  21. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  22. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  23. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  24. When are we going to ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. row — a line
  2. ruler — a monarch
  3. prune — to trim
  4. prune — to trim
  5. scale — in music
  6. fork — to eat with
  7. scale — size or range
  8. fork — a garden tool
  9. row — to paddle
  10. fork — in a road
  11. land — a country
  12. last — final
  13. row — a quarrel
  14. ruler — for measuring
  15. last — finally
  16. last — to go on
  17. trunk — of an elephant
  18. scale — for weighing
  19. land — ground
  20. prune — the fruit
  21. trunk — of a car
  22. ruler — for measuring
  23. trunk — of a tree
  24. land — to come down

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