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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: prune · land · mate · march · content · straw · race · jam

  1. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  2. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  3. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  4. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  5. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  6. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  7. Have you found your soul ________________?
  8. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  9. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  10. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  11. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  12. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  13. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  14. When are we going to ________________?
  15. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  16. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  17. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  18. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  19. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  20. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  21. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  22. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  23. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  24. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?

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

Answer key

  1. land — a country
  2. straw — dry grass
  3. march — the month
  4. content — the amount
  5. prune — to trim
  6. content — happy
  7. mate — a partner
  8. jam — in traffic
  9. mate — to breed
  10. jam — to spread on bread
  11. straw — to clutch at straws
  12. prune — to trim
  13. jam — a tight spot
  14. land — to come down
  15. prune — the fruit
  16. race — a contest
  17. race — the arms race
  18. march — music
  19. content — videos and posts
  20. race — humankind
  21. march — the month
  22. land — ground
  23. straw — a straw man
  24. mate — a friend

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