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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: fork · bat · prune · tear · face · plane · pass · land

  1. When are we going to ________________?
  2. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  3. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  4. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  5. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  6. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  7. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  8. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  9. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  10. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  11. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  12. The ________________ took off on time.
  13. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  14. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  15. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  16. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  17. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  18. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  19. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  20. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  21. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  22. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  23. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  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. land — to come down
  2. prune — to trim
  3. face — to point toward
  4. pass — a permit
  5. tear — from crying
  6. pass — to spend time
  7. fork — to eat with
  8. land — a country
  9. tear — to rip
  10. bat — in an idiom
  11. bat — for baseball
  12. plane — an aircraft
  13. prune — the fruit
  14. bat — the animal
  15. plane — in geometry
  16. face — to confront
  17. tear — from crying
  18. prune — to trim
  19. fork — a garden tool
  20. face — part of the head
  21. pass — to succeed
  22. plane — a tool
  23. land — ground
  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