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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: net · ruler · fork · prune · land · racket · snap · hand

  1. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  2. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  3. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  4. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  5. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  6. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  7. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  8. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  9. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  10. When are we going to ________________?
  11. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  12. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  13. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  14. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  15. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  16. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  17. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  18. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  19. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  20. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  21. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  22. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  23. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  24. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.

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

Answer key

  1. fork — a garden tool
  2. fork — to eat with
  3. prune — the fruit
  4. hand — part of the body
  5. snap — to speak sharply
  6. net — after costs
  7. prune — to trim
  8. racket — for tennis
  9. hand — in cards
  10. land — to come down
  11. snap — to snap out of it
  12. ruler — for measuring
  13. racket — a loud noise
  14. hand — help
  15. prune — to trim
  16. land — a country
  17. net — for catching
  18. snap — to click
  19. ruler — a monarch
  20. fork — in a road
  21. land — ground
  22. racket — for tennis
  23. net — in sport
  24. ruler — for measuring

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