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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 116 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: tube · land · bulb · game · spell · racket · track · prune

  1. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  2. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  3. How do you ________________ your surname?
  4. The light ________________ burned out.
  5. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  6. When are we going to ________________?
  7. I'll be taking the ________________.
  8. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  9. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  10. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  11. I've got to change the light ________________.
  12. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  13. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  14. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  15. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  16. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  17. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  18. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  19. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  20. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  21. That was a fun ________________.
  22. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  23. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  24. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.

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

Answer key

  1. land — ground
  2. prune — to trim
  3. spell — letters
  4. bulb — for light
  5. prune — the fruit
  6. land — to come down
  7. tube — the underground
  8. land — a country
  9. game — a kind of play
  10. racket — for tennis
  11. bulb — for light
  12. racket — a loud noise
  13. track — to keep track
  14. spell — magic
  15. prune — to trim
  16. spell — a short time
  17. tube — in a tire
  18. racket — for tennis
  19. bulb — of a plant
  20. game — wild animals
  21. game — a match
  22. tube — a container
  23. track — a song
  24. track — a path

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