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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 120 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: prune · face · kick · bay · game · stem · mine · fork

  1. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  2. My mare is ________________ in color.
  3. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  4. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  5. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  6. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  7. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  8. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  9. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  10. That was a fun ________________.
  11. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  12. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  13. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  14. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  15. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  16. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  17. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  18. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  19. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  20. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  21. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  22. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  23. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  24. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — belonging to me
  2. bay — a horse colour
  3. stem — a stem cell
  4. fork — in a road
  5. game — wild animals
  6. fork — to eat with
  7. mine — an explosive
  8. prune — the fruit
  9. bay — a part of the sea
  10. game — a match
  11. bay — to keep at bay
  12. mine — for digging
  13. fork — a garden tool
  14. kick — a thrill
  15. game — a kind of play
  16. kick — with a leg
  17. face — to confront
  18. prune — to trim
  19. face — to point toward
  20. prune — to trim
  21. stem — to come from
  22. stem — of a plant
  23. face — part of the head
  24. kick — in football

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