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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: prune · stock · hand · date · wind · object · roll · club

  1. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  2. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  3. We're on a ________________ here.
  4. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  5. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  6. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  7. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  8. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  9. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  10. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  11. Have you settled on a ________________?
  12. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  13. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  14. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  15. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  16. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  17. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  18. The ________________ market has crashed.
  19. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  20. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  21. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  22. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  23. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  24. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.

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

Answer key

  1. club — for golf
  2. date — the fruit
  3. roll — on a roll
  4. prune — to trim
  5. prune — the fruit
  6. wind — moving air
  7. object — an aim
  8. wind — to turn a key
  9. club — a group
  10. prune — to trim
  11. date — on the calendar
  12. object — to protest
  13. club — for dancing
  14. date — on the calendar
  15. hand — part of the body
  16. hand — in cards
  17. stock — a soup base
  18. stock — shares
  19. hand — help
  20. object — a thing
  21. stock — goods
  22. wind — moving air
  23. roll — a cake
  24. roll — a list

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