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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. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  2. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  3. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  4. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  5. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  6. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  7. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  8. False peace will not ________________.
  9. My father caught me by the ________________.
  10. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  11. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  12. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  13. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  14. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  15. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  16. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  17. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  18. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  19. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  20. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  21. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  22. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  23. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  24. Do you need a ________________ with that?

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

Answer key

  1. prune — the fruit
  2. march — the month
  3. arm — part of the body
  4. last — finally
  5. hand — part of the body
  6. net — in sport
  7. net — for catching
  8. last — to go on
  9. arm — part of the body
  10. last — final
  11. file — a tool
  12. prune — to trim
  13. net — after costs
  14. file — a line of people
  15. arm — a part of something
  16. snap — to click
  17. snap — to snap out of it
  18. prune — to trim
  19. snap — to speak sharply
  20. march — music
  21. march — the month
  22. file — a document
  23. hand — in cards
  24. hand — help

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