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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: land · game · arm · tear · last · squash · prune · foot

  1. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  2. That was a fun ________________.
  3. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  4. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  5. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  6. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  7. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  8. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  9. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  10. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  11. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  12. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  13. When are we going to ________________?
  14. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  15. My father caught me by the ________________.
  16. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  17. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  18. False peace will not ________________.
  19. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  20. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  21. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  22. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  23. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  24. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!

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

Answer key

  1. land — ground
  2. game — a match
  3. last — finally
  4. game — wild animals
  5. tear — from crying
  6. land — a country
  7. game — a kind of play
  8. squash — the vegetable
  9. prune — to trim
  10. tear — to rip
  11. arm — a part of something
  12. foot — a measure
  13. land — to come down
  14. foot — part of the body
  15. arm — part of the body
  16. foot — the bottom
  17. prune — the fruit
  18. last — to go on
  19. tear — from crying
  20. arm — part of the body
  21. squash — to crush
  22. prune — to trim
  23. squash — the sport
  24. last — final

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