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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: rush · march · sharp · kick · wound · last · scale · prune

  1. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  2. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  3. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  4. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  5. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  6. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  7. That must've been a ________________.
  8. False peace will not ________________.
  9. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  10. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  11. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  12. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  13. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  14. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  15. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  16. It's one o'clock ________________.
  17. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  18. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  19. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  20. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  21. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  22. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  23. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  24. This knife is not ________________ enough.

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

Answer key

  1. prune — to trim
  2. wound — an injury
  3. wound — past of 'wind'
  4. prune — the fruit
  5. march — the month
  6. rush — to hurry
  7. rush — a thrill
  8. last — to go on
  9. scale — size or range
  10. march — the month
  11. scale — for weighing
  12. rush — hurry
  13. kick — a thrill
  14. kick — with a leg
  15. scale — in music
  16. sharp — exactly
  17. last — final
  18. kick — in football
  19. sharp — clever
  20. march — music
  21. prune — to trim
  22. last — finally
  23. wound — an injury
  24. sharp — with an edge

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