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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 116 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. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  2. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  3. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  4. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  5. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  6. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  7. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  8. That was a fun ________________.
  9. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  10. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  11. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  12. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  13. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  14. False peace will not ________________.
  15. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  16. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  17. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  18. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  19. Have you met the new head ________________?
  20. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  21. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  22. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  23. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  24. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.

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

Answer key

  1. coach — pulled by horses
  2. fork — a garden tool
  3. prune — the fruit
  4. snap — to speak sharply
  5. snap — to snap out of it
  6. last — finally
  7. coach — a trainer
  8. game — a match
  9. fine — high quality
  10. prune — to trim
  11. prune — to trim
  12. snap — to click
  13. fork — in a road
  14. last — to go on
  15. last — final
  16. game — a kind of play
  17. fine — all right
  18. fork — to eat with
  19. coach — a trainer
  20. rule — to rule out
  21. rule — government
  22. game — wild animals
  23. rule — a law
  24. fine — a penalty

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