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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. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  3. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  4. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  5. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  6. You don't need to ________________ round.
  7. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  8. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  9. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  10. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  11. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  12. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  13. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  14. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  15. How do you ________________ your surname?
  16. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  17. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  18. We're almost out of ________________.
  19. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  20. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  21. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  22. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  23. She's very handy with a ________________.
  24. He works in a ________________ mill.

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

Answer key

  1. prune — to trim
  2. fork — to eat with
  3. scale — size or range
  4. field — a subject
  5. spell — a short time
  6. pop — to visit
  7. scale — in music
  8. squash — the vegetable
  9. saw — past of 'see'
  10. field — for sport
  11. fork — a garden tool
  12. pop — music
  13. prune — to trim
  14. fork — in a road
  15. spell — letters
  16. spell — magic
  17. prune — the fruit
  18. pop — soda
  19. squash — the sport
  20. field — farmland
  21. squash — to crush
  22. scale — for weighing
  23. saw — the tool
  24. saw — the 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