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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. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  3. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  4. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  5. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  6. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  7. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  8. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  9. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  10. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  11. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  12. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  13. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  14. How do you ________________ your surname?
  15. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  16. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  17. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  18. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  19. That was a fun ________________.
  20. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  21. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  22. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  23. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  24. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.

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

Answer key

  1. prune — the fruit
  2. game — a kind of play
  3. spell — magic
  4. trunk — of an elephant
  5. spell — a short time
  6. march — the month
  7. ruler — a monarch
  8. prune — to trim
  9. wound — an injury
  10. wound — an injury
  11. march — music
  12. game — wild animals
  13. march — the month
  14. spell — letters
  15. racket — for tennis
  16. wound — past of 'wind'
  17. racket — a loud noise
  18. racket — for tennis
  19. game — a match
  20. trunk — of a car
  21. ruler — for measuring
  22. prune — to trim
  23. ruler — for measuring
  24. trunk — of a tree

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