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

  1. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  2. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  3. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  4. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  5. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  6. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  7. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  8. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  9. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  10. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  11. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  12. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  13. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  14. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  15. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  16. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  17. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  18. He keeps ________________ of his days.

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

Answer key

  1. prune — to trim
  2. track — a song
  3. prune — the fruit
  4. prune — to trim
  5. mine — for digging
  6. field — a subject
  7. perch — the fish
  8. field — farmland
  9. perch — for a bird
  10. branch — a division
  11. mine — belonging to me
  12. field — for sport
  13. track — a path
  14. branch — of a tree
  15. branch — of a bank
  16. perch — for a bird
  17. mine — an explosive
  18. track — to keep track

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