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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 in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  2. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  3. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  4. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  5. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  6. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  7. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  8. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  9. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  10. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  11. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  12. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  13. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  14. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  15. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  16. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  17. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  18. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.

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

Answer key

  1. prune — to trim
  2. fall — to drop
  3. field — a subject
  4. ruler — a monarch
  5. fall — to drop
  6. prune — to trim
  7. squash — the vegetable
  8. fall — the season
  9. squash — to crush
  10. field — for sport
  11. ruler — for measuring
  12. chair — a professorship
  13. ruler — for measuring
  14. prune — the fruit
  15. field — farmland
  16. chair — to sit on
  17. squash — the sport
  18. chair — a leader

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