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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 speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  3. When are we going to ________________?
  4. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  5. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  6. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  7. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  8. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  9. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  10. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  11. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  12. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  13. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  14. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  15. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  16. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  17. He works in a ________________ mill.
  18. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  19. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  20. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  21. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  22. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  23. She's very handy with a ________________.
  24. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. prune — to trim
  2. wake — a trail
  3. land — to come down
  4. prune — the fruit
  5. bat — in an idiom
  6. land — a country
  7. fine — high quality
  8. fine — all right
  9. wake — to stop sleeping
  10. club — for golf
  11. bat — the animal
  12. bat — for baseball
  13. land — ground
  14. wake — before a funeral
  15. file — a document
  16. prune — to trim
  17. saw — the tool
  18. club — a group
  19. fine — a penalty
  20. saw — past of 'see'
  21. club — for dancing
  22. file — a line of people
  23. saw — the tool
  24. file — a tool

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