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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. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  2. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  3. The water is too ________________.
  4. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  5. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  6. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  7. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  8. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  9. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  10. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  11. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  12. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  13. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  14. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  15. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  18. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  19. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  20. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  21. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  22. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  23. How do you ________________ your surname?
  24. I'll be taking the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. spell — a short time
  2. field — a subject
  3. cold — not warm
  4. prune — to trim
  5. prune — to trim
  6. chip — in a computer
  7. field — for sport
  8. field — farmland
  9. mouse — the animal
  10. tube — in a tire
  11. chip — for betting
  12. mouse — the animal
  13. spell — magic
  14. net — in sport
  15. prune — the fruit
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. cold — an illness
  18. mouse — for a computer
  19. tube — a container
  20. net — for catching
  21. net — after costs
  22. chip — to eat
  23. spell — letters
  24. tube — the underground

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