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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. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  2. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  3. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  4. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  5. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  6. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  7. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  8. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  9. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  10. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  11. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  12. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  13. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  14. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  15. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  16. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  17. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  18. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  19. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  20. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  21. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  22. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  23. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  24. The ball is in your ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — part of the body
  2. wake — to stop sleeping
  3. fork — a garden tool
  4. prune — to trim
  5. face — to confront
  6. scale — in music
  7. hand — in cards
  8. mine — for digging
  9. wake — before a funeral
  10. fork — to eat with
  11. fork — in a road
  12. hand — help
  13. court — of a king
  14. scale — for weighing
  15. mine — an explosive
  16. face — part of the head
  17. mine — belonging to me
  18. wake — a trail
  19. prune — to trim
  20. scale — size or range
  21. face — to point toward
  22. court — of law
  23. prune — the fruit
  24. court — for sport

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