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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. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  3. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  4. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  5. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  6. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  7. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  8. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  9. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  10. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  11. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  12. David sat on the ________________.
  13. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  14. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  15. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  16. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  17. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  18. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  19. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  20. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  21. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  22. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  23. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  24. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. prune — to trim
  2. swing — in golf
  3. wind — moving air
  4. prune — the fruit
  5. fork — a garden tool
  6. hand — help
  7. fork — to eat with
  8. prune — to trim
  9. fall — to drop
  10. hand — in cards
  11. wind — moving air
  12. swing — to play on
  13. snap — to snap out of it
  14. fall — the season
  15. hand — part of the body
  16. swing — music
  17. snap — to speak sharply
  18. capital — a big letter
  19. wind — to turn a key
  20. snap — to click
  21. capital — a city
  22. fork — in a road
  23. fall — to drop
  24. capital — money

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