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

Word bank: wound · march · prune · vault · pass · fork · toast · content

  1. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  2. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  3. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  4. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  5. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  6. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  7. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  8. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  9. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  10. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  11. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  12. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  13. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  14. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  15. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  16. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  17. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  18. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  19. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  20. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  21. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  22. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  23. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  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. toast — bread
  2. content — videos and posts
  3. wound — an injury
  4. march — music
  5. march — the month
  6. toast — a drink to someone
  7. prune — the fruit
  8. wound — an injury
  9. prune — to trim
  10. content — the amount
  11. pass — to succeed
  12. pass — a permit
  13. fork — a garden tool
  14. wound — past of 'wind'
  15. content — happy
  16. toast — the most admired
  17. vault — in gymnastics
  18. vault — a safe
  19. pass — to spend time
  20. march — the month
  21. prune — to trim
  22. fork — to eat with
  23. vault — an arched ceiling
  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