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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. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  2. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  3. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  4. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  5. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  6. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  7. How do you ________________ your surname?
  8. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  9. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  10. Have you found your soul ________________?
  11. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  12. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  13. He is an ace ________________.
  14. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  15. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  16. When are we going to ________________?
  17. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  18. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  19. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  20. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  21. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  22. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  23. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  24. That must've been a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. rush — to hurry
  2. prune — to trim
  3. mate — to breed
  4. rush — hurry
  5. pass — to succeed
  6. march — the month
  7. spell — letters
  8. spell — magic
  9. pitcher — a jug
  10. mate — a partner
  11. pass — to spend time
  12. march — music
  13. pitcher — in baseball
  14. pass — a permit
  15. pitcher — a jug
  16. land — to come down
  17. mate — a friend
  18. prune — the fruit
  19. spell — a short time
  20. land — ground
  21. land — a country
  22. prune — to trim
  23. march — the month
  24. rush — a thrill

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