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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: present · ground · prune · land · ball · spell · board · snap

  1. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  2. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  3. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  4. The King held a masked ________________.
  5. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  6. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  7. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  8. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  9. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  10. How do you ________________ your surname?
  11. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  12. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  13. There's no middle ________________.
  14. When are we going to ________________?
  15. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  16. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  17. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  18. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  19. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  20. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  21. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  22. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  23. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  24. The kitten curled into a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. spell — magic
  2. ball — a great time
  3. ground — crushed
  4. ball — a dance
  5. board — a committee
  6. land — a country
  7. snap — to snap out of it
  8. present — there
  9. present — the time now
  10. spell — letters
  11. present — a gift
  12. ground — the earth
  13. ground — a position
  14. land — to come down
  15. land — ground
  16. snap — to click
  17. snap — to speak sharply
  18. prune — the fruit
  19. spell — a short time
  20. board — a flat piece
  21. prune — to trim
  22. board — to get on
  23. prune — to trim
  24. ball — a round shape

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