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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. How do you ________________ your surname?
  2. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  3. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  4. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  5. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  6. Have you settled on a ________________?
  7. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  8. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  9. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  10. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  11. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  12. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  13. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  14. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  15. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  16. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  17. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  18. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  19. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  20. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  21. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  22. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  23. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  24. A ________________ is just a dried plum.

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

Answer key

  1. spell — letters
  2. march — music
  3. kick — with a leg
  4. spell — magic
  5. fork — a garden tool
  6. date — on the calendar
  7. spell — a short time
  8. fork — in a road
  9. march — the month
  10. date — the fruit
  11. root — of a plant
  12. date — on the calendar
  13. bat — in an idiom
  14. kick — a thrill
  15. fork — to eat with
  16. prune — to trim
  17. root — the cause
  18. bat — the animal
  19. prune — to trim
  20. kick — in football
  21. march — the month
  22. root — of a word
  23. bat — for baseball
  24. prune — the fruit

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