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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. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  2. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  3. Did you ________________ the meat?
  4. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  5. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  6. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  7. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  8. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  9. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  10. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  11. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  12. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  13. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  14. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  15. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  16. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  17. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  18. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  19. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  20. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  21. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  22. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  23. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  24. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.

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

Answer key

  1. season — of the year
  2. prune — to trim
  3. season — to add flavour
  4. fork — in a road
  5. fork — to eat with
  6. wind — to turn a key
  7. straw — to clutch at straws
  8. prune — to trim
  9. wind — moving air
  10. pitch — a sports field
  11. bank — for money
  12. pitch — a sales talk
  13. straw — a straw man
  14. wind — moving air
  15. season — in sport
  16. pitch — completely
  17. prune — the fruit
  18. spring — of water
  19. spring — a coil
  20. bank — for money
  21. bank — of a river
  22. spring — the season
  23. straw — dry grass
  24. fork — a garden tool

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