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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: hand · prune · lean · last · toast · pound · court · scale

  1. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  2. False peace will not ________________.
  3. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  4. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  5. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  6. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  7. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  8. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  9. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  10. The ball is in your ________________.
  11. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  12. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  13. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  14. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  15. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  16. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  17. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  18. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  19. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  20. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  21. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  22. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  23. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  24. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. prune — to trim
  2. last — to go on
  3. pound — for dogs
  4. toast — a drink to someone
  5. toast — the most admired
  6. prune — to trim
  7. lean — to rest against
  8. last — final
  9. court — of law
  10. court — for sport
  11. pound — to hit hard
  12. pound — a weight
  13. last — finally
  14. hand — help
  15. lean — to bend
  16. scale — size or range
  17. lean — thin
  18. scale — in music
  19. prune — the fruit
  20. court — of a king
  21. toast — bread
  22. hand — in cards
  23. scale — for weighing
  24. hand — part of the body

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