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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. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  2. When will it ________________ you to start?
  3. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  4. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  5. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  6. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  7. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  8. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  9. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  10. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  11. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  12. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  13. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  14. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  15. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  16. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  17. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  18. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  19. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  20. How do you ________________ your surname?
  21. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  22. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  23. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  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. suit — in cards
  2. suit — to fit
  3. hand — in cards
  4. spell — a short time
  5. field — farmland
  6. toast — the most admired
  7. march — the month
  8. field — a subject
  9. field — for sport
  10. spell — magic
  11. scale — size or range
  12. prune — to trim
  13. suit — clothes
  14. march — music
  15. toast — bread
  16. toast — a drink to someone
  17. prune — to trim
  18. hand — help
  19. scale — for weighing
  20. spell — letters
  21. march — the month
  22. scale — in music
  23. hand — part of the body
  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