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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. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  2. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  3. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  4. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  5. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  6. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  7. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  8. Don't do anything ________________.
  9. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  10. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  11. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  12. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  13. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  14. False peace will not ________________.
  15. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  16. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  17. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  18. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  19. That was a fun ________________.
  20. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  21. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  22. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  23. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  24. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.

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

Answer key

  1. prune — the fruit
  2. hand — help
  3. rash — on the skin
  4. hand — part of the body
  5. staff — a stick
  6. bat — for baseball
  7. bank — for money
  8. rash — hasty
  9. bank — of a river
  10. prune — to trim
  11. game — wild animals
  12. last — finally
  13. last — final
  14. last — to go on
  15. bank — for money
  16. bat — in an idiom
  17. prune — to trim
  18. hand — in cards
  19. game — a match
  20. game — a kind of play
  21. staff — employees
  22. bat — the animal
  23. rash — a series
  24. staff — employees

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