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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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Word bank
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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: row · season · mouse · fork · net · prune · kid · degree

  1. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  2. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  3. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  4. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  5. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  6. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  7. Did you ________________ the meat?
  8. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  9. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  10. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  11. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  12. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  13. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  14. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  15. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  16. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  17. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  18. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  19. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  20. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  21. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  22. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  23. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  24. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.

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

Answer key

  1. prune — to trim
  2. net — after costs
  3. mouse — the animal
  4. season — in sport
  5. prune — to trim
  6. mouse — for a computer
  7. season — to add flavour
  8. row — a quarrel
  9. degree — from a university
  10. fork — in a road
  11. net — in sport
  12. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  13. fork — to eat with
  14. row — a line
  15. prune — the fruit
  16. season — of the year
  17. mouse — the animal
  18. kid — child
  19. degree — temperature
  20. fork — a garden tool
  21. net — for catching
  22. degree — an amount
  23. row — to paddle
  24. kid — to tease

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