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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: board · prune · track · fork · snap · march · game · root

  1. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  2. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  3. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  4. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  5. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  6. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  7. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  8. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  9. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  10. That was a fun ________________.
  11. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  12. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  13. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  14. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  15. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  16. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  17. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  18. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  19. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  20. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  21. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  22. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  23. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  24. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.

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

Answer key

  1. board — a committee
  2. prune — to trim
  3. prune — to trim
  4. march — music
  5. track — to keep track
  6. fork — in a road
  7. track — a song
  8. board — a flat piece
  9. march — the month
  10. game — a match
  11. prune — the fruit
  12. game — a kind of play
  13. board — to get on
  14. snap — to click
  15. fork — a garden tool
  16. root — the cause
  17. snap — to speak sharply
  18. track — a path
  19. root — of a plant
  20. snap — to snap out of it
  21. game — wild animals
  22. march — the month
  23. fork — to eat with
  24. root — of a word

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