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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 120 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. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  2. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  3. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  4. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  5. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  6. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  7. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  8. Have you met the new head ________________?
  9. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  10. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  11. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  12. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  13. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  14. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  15. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  16. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  17. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  18. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  19. Don't do anything ________________.
  20. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  21. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  22. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  23. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  24. I seem to be developing a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. prune — to trim
  2. pass — a permit
  3. band — a rubber band
  4. coach — pulled by horses
  5. spring — of water
  6. spring — a coil
  7. pass — to spend time
  8. coach — a trainer
  9. fall — the season
  10. prune — to trim
  11. fall — to drop
  12. band — a music group
  13. pass — to succeed
  14. fall — to drop
  15. coach — a trainer
  16. band — a ring
  17. fork — to eat with
  18. fork — in a road
  19. rash — hasty
  20. fork — a garden tool
  21. prune — the fruit
  22. spring — the season
  23. rash — a series
  24. rash — on the skin

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