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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 116 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: prune · fork · bat · rock · last · game · lean · mate

  1. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  2. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  3. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  4. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  5. That was a fun ________________.
  6. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  7. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  8. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  9. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  10. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  11. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  12. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  13. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  14. False peace will not ________________.
  15. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  16. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  17. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  18. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  19. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  20. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  21. Have you found your soul ________________?
  22. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  23. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  24. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.

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

Answer key

  1. prune — to trim
  2. bat — in an idiom
  3. lean — thin
  4. game — wild animals
  5. game — a match
  6. last — final
  7. last — finally
  8. mate — a friend
  9. fork — in a road
  10. rock — to move gently
  11. fork — a garden tool
  12. mate — to breed
  13. prune — the fruit
  14. last — to go on
  15. prune — to trim
  16. lean — to rest against
  17. rock — music
  18. lean — to bend
  19. fork — to eat with
  20. rock — a stone
  21. mate — a partner
  22. game — a kind of play
  23. bat — for baseball
  24. bat — the animal

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