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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: key · game · net · prune · spell · leaves · wake · object

  1. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  2. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  3. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  4. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  5. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  6. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  7. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  8. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  9. How do you ________________ your surname?
  10. That was a fun ________________.
  11. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  12. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  13. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  14. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  15. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  16. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  17. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  18. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  19. This piece is in a major ________________.
  20. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  21. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  22. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  23. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  24. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.

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

Answer key

  1. net — after costs
  2. game — wild animals
  3. object — to protest
  4. leaves — of a tree
  5. spell — magic
  6. prune — to trim
  7. leaves — to go away
  8. prune — to trim
  9. spell — letters
  10. game — a match
  11. object — an aim
  12. game — a kind of play
  13. wake — before a funeral
  14. key — for a lock
  15. wake — a trail
  16. net — in sport
  17. spell — a short time
  18. object — a thing
  19. key — in music
  20. key — the most important part
  21. prune — the fruit
  22. leaves — lets stay
  23. net — for catching
  24. wake — to stop sleeping

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