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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. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  2. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  3. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  4. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  5. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  6. He is an ace ________________.
  7. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  8. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  9. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  10. The ball is in your ________________.
  11. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  12. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  13. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  14. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  15. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  16. False peace will not ________________.
  17. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  18. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  19. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  20. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  21. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  22. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  23. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  24. How do you ________________ your surname?

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

Answer key

  1. race — humankind
  2. prune — to trim
  3. pitcher — a jug
  4. spell — a short time
  5. prune — the fruit
  6. pitcher — in baseball
  7. drill — army training
  8. prune — to trim
  9. drill — the tool
  10. court — for sport
  11. wake — a trail
  12. race — a contest
  13. wake — before a funeral
  14. last — final
  15. pitcher — a jug
  16. last — to go on
  17. drill — a practice
  18. spell — magic
  19. court — of a king
  20. last — finally
  21. race — the arms race
  22. court — of law
  23. wake — to stop sleeping
  24. spell — letters

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