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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: row · bowl · pit · rash · face · prune · last · capital

  1. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  2. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  3. False peace will not ________________.
  4. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  5. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  6. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  7. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  8. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  9. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  10. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  11. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  12. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  13. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  14. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  15. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  16. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  17. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  18. Don't do anything ________________.
  19. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  20. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  21. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  22. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  23. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  24. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — a dish
  2. rash — a series
  3. last — to go on
  4. prune — to trim
  5. prune — the fruit
  6. face — part of the head
  7. face — to confront
  8. pit — a fruit stone
  9. capital — a big letter
  10. bowl — to roll
  11. bowl — a football final
  12. prune — to trim
  13. row — a quarrel
  14. pit — a hole
  15. last — finally
  16. capital — money
  17. face — to point toward
  18. rash — hasty
  19. last — final
  20. capital — a city
  21. pit — in a race
  22. rash — on the skin
  23. row — a line
  24. row — to paddle

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