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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. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  2. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  3. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  4. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  5. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  6. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  7. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  8. Did you ________________ the meat?
  9. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  10. False peace will not ________________.
  11. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  12. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  13. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  14. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  15. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  16. The water is too ________________.
  17. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  18. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  19. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  20. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  21. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  22. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  23. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  24. Spring is a pleasant ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — to roll
  2. last — finally
  3. prune — to trim
  4. root — of a plant
  5. trunk — of a car
  6. prune — to trim
  7. last — final
  8. season — to add flavour
  9. net — in sport
  10. last — to go on
  11. net — for catching
  12. season — in sport
  13. root — the cause
  14. prune — the fruit
  15. root — of a word
  16. cold — not warm
  17. trunk — of an elephant
  18. net — after costs
  19. cold — the Cold War
  20. trunk — of a tree
  21. bowl — a football final
  22. bowl — a dish
  23. cold — an illness
  24. season — of the year

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