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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. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  2. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  3. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  4. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  5. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  6. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  7. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  8. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  9. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  10. How do you ________________ your surname?
  11. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  12. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  13. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  14. That was a fun ________________.
  15. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  16. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  17. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  18. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  19. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  20. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  21. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  22. What do you think of the new ________________?
  23. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  24. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. prune — to trim
  2. prune — to trim
  3. game — wild animals
  4. pass — to succeed
  5. race — humankind
  6. race — the arms race
  7. row — to paddle
  8. pass — to spend time
  9. spell — a short time
  10. spell — letters
  11. track — a path
  12. cabinet — ministers
  13. track — to keep track
  14. game — a match
  15. row — a quarrel
  16. game — a kind of play
  17. pass — a permit
  18. track — a song
  19. race — a contest
  20. row — a line
  21. prune — the fruit
  22. cabinet — ministers
  23. cabinet — a cupboard
  24. spell — magic

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