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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: fork · spell · stand · prune · land · rash · pitcher · hand

  1. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  2. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  3. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  4. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  5. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  6. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  7. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  8. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  9. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  10. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  11. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  12. How do you ________________ your surname?
  13. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  14. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  15. When are we going to ________________?
  16. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  17. He is an ace ________________.
  18. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  19. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  20. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  21. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  22. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  23. Don't do anything ________________.
  24. I can't ________________ this cold.

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

Answer key

  1. prune — to trim
  2. fork — to eat with
  3. land — ground
  4. rash — on the skin
  5. rash — a series
  6. pitcher — a jug
  7. prune — the fruit
  8. spell — magic
  9. hand — in cards
  10. hand — part of the body
  11. stand — on your feet
  12. spell — letters
  13. spell — a short time
  14. fork — in a road
  15. land — to come down
  16. land — a country
  17. pitcher — in baseball
  18. hand — help
  19. pitcher — a jug
  20. prune — to trim
  21. fork — a garden tool
  22. stand — for spectators
  23. rash — hasty
  24. stand — to bear

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