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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: toast · fork · wind · deal · land · date · degree · prune

  1. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  2. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  3. When are we going to ________________?
  4. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  5. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  6. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  7. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  8. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  9. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  10. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  11. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  12. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  13. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  14. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  15. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  16. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  17. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  18. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  19. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  20. Have you settled on a ________________?
  21. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  22. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  23. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  24. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.

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

Answer key

  1. prune — the fruit
  2. date — on the calendar
  3. land — to come down
  4. fork — to eat with
  5. date — the fruit
  6. deal — an agreement
  7. fork — a garden tool
  8. prune — to trim
  9. degree — temperature
  10. toast — bread
  11. degree — an amount
  12. toast — a drink to someone
  13. deal — to handle
  14. deal — a big deal
  15. wind — moving air
  16. prune — to trim
  17. toast — the most admired
  18. land — ground
  19. land — a country
  20. date — on the calendar
  21. wind — moving air
  22. degree — from a university
  23. wind — to turn a key
  24. fork — in a road

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