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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: wake · dip · wound · calf · march · game · scale · prune

  1. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  2. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  3. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  4. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  5. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  6. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  7. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  8. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  9. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  10. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  11. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  12. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  13. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  14. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  15. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  16. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  17. That was a fun ________________.
  18. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  19. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  20. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  21. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  22. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  23. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  24. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. scale — size or range
  2. march — music
  3. march — the month
  4. prune — the fruit
  5. calf — of the leg
  6. dip — a sauce
  7. scale — in music
  8. dip — to sink
  9. prune — to trim
  10. wake — before a funeral
  11. wound — past of 'wind'
  12. scale — for weighing
  13. wound — an injury
  14. calf — a young animal
  15. wake — to stop sleeping
  16. dip — to dunk
  17. game — a match
  18. game — a kind of play
  19. prune — to trim
  20. wound — an injury
  21. wake — a trail
  22. march — the month
  23. game — wild animals
  24. calf — a young animal

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