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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. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  3. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  4. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  5. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  6. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  7. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  8. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  9. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  10. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  11. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  12. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  13. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  14. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  15. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  16. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  17. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  18. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  19. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  20. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  21. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  22. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  23. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  24. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.

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

Answer key

  1. prune — to trim
  2. craft — a skill
  3. degree — from a university
  4. prune — the fruit
  5. trunk — of an elephant
  6. degree — temperature
  7. field — farmland
  8. snap — to click
  9. craft — a handicraft
  10. calf — a young animal
  11. net — for catching
  12. net — after costs
  13. prune — to trim
  14. snap — to snap out of it
  15. craft — boats
  16. degree — an amount
  17. trunk — of a tree
  18. trunk — of a car
  19. field — a subject
  20. calf — of the leg
  21. field — for sport
  22. calf — a young animal
  23. net — in sport
  24. snap — to speak sharply

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