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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. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  2. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  3. The ________________ market has crashed.
  4. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  5. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  6. When are we going to ________________?
  7. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  8. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  9. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  10. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  11. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  12. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  13. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  14. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  15. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  16. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  17. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  18. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  19. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  20. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  21. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  22. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  23. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  24. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.

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

Answer key

  1. prune — to trim
  2. stock — a soup base
  3. stock — shares
  4. prune — the fruit
  5. vault — in gymnastics
  6. land — to come down
  7. deal — an agreement
  8. fork — a garden tool
  9. hand — in cards
  10. deal — to handle
  11. prune — to trim
  12. land — ground
  13. patient — calm and waiting
  14. hand — part of the body
  15. vault — a safe
  16. fork — to eat with
  17. deal — a big deal
  18. land — a country
  19. hand — help
  20. stock — goods
  21. patient — a sick person
  22. vault — an arched ceiling
  23. patient — a sick person
  24. fork — in a road

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