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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: wind · fork · leaves · march · track · game · prune · cue

  1. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  2. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  3. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  4. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  5. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  6. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  7. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  8. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  9. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  10. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  11. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  12. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  13. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  14. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  15. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  16. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  17. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  18. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  19. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  20. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  21. That was a fun ________________.
  22. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  23. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  24. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.

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

Answer key

  1. fork — to eat with
  2. fork — a garden tool
  3. game — a kind of play
  4. march — the month
  5. leaves — lets stay
  6. wind — moving air
  7. cue — a signal
  8. prune — to trim
  9. prune — to trim
  10. prune — the fruit
  11. march — music
  12. cue — a hint
  13. march — the month
  14. cue — for pool
  15. leaves — to go away
  16. wind — to turn a key
  17. track — a song
  18. wind — moving air
  19. leaves — of a tree
  20. game — wild animals
  21. game — a match
  22. track — to keep track
  23. track — a path
  24. fork — in a road

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