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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 120 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: fork · land · calf · rest · kid · row · pound · prune

  1. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  2. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  3. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  4. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  5. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  6. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  7. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  8. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  9. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  10. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  11. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  12. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  13. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  14. When are we going to ________________?
  15. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  16. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  17. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  18. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  19. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  20. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  21. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  22. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  23. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  24. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — to tease
  2. prune — the fruit
  3. fork — a garden tool
  4. pound — for dogs
  5. kid — child
  6. land — ground
  7. prune — to trim
  8. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  9. pound — to hit hard
  10. land — a country
  11. row — to paddle
  12. calf — a young animal
  13. rest — what's left
  14. land — to come down
  15. rest — a break
  16. fork — in a road
  17. calf — of the leg
  18. row — a quarrel
  19. row — a line
  20. prune — to trim
  21. fork — to eat with
  22. calf — a young animal
  23. rest — what's left
  24. pound — a weight

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