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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: bound · date · roll · march · content · fall · prune · mark

  1. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  2. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  3. That was ________________ to happen.
  4. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  5. Have you settled on a ________________?
  6. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  7. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  8. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  9. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  10. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  11. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  12. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  13. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  14. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  15. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  16. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  17. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  18. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  19. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  20. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  21. We're on a ________________ here.
  22. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  23. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  24. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.

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

Answer key

  1. prune — to trim
  2. march — music
  3. bound — certain
  4. roll — a cake
  5. date — on the calendar
  6. content — happy
  7. prune — to trim
  8. march — the month
  9. date — on the calendar
  10. mark — to pay attention
  11. march — the month
  12. content — videos and posts
  13. content — the amount
  14. fall — the season
  15. mark — a grade
  16. fall — to drop
  17. bound — obliged
  18. fall — to drop
  19. prune — the fruit
  20. bound — tied together
  21. roll — on a roll
  22. mark — a trace
  23. date — the fruit
  24. roll — a list

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