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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: rash · cell · pit · fork · chair · last · bank · prune

  1. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  2. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  3. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  4. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  5. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  6. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  7. False peace will not ________________.
  8. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  9. Don't do anything ________________.
  10. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  11. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  12. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  13. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  14. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  15. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  16. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  17. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  18. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  19. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  20. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  21. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  22. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  23. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  24. He was locked up in a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pit — a fruit stone
  2. last — final
  3. prune — the fruit
  4. cell — a phone
  5. chair — a professorship
  6. prune — to trim
  7. last — to go on
  8. pit — in a race
  9. rash — hasty
  10. rash — on the skin
  11. bank — for money
  12. prune — to trim
  13. bank — of a river
  14. last — finally
  15. pit — a hole
  16. cell — in biology
  17. rash — a series
  18. fork — a garden tool
  19. chair — to sit on
  20. bank — for money
  21. fork — in a road
  22. fork — to eat with
  23. chair — a leader
  24. cell — in a prison

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