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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.

Make a worksheet

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. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  3. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  4. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  5. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  6. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  7. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  8. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  9. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  10. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  11. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  12. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  13. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  14. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  15. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  16. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  17. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  18. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  19. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  20. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  21. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  22. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  23. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  24. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. prune — to trim
  2. wound — past of 'wind'
  3. file — a tool
  4. field — a subject
  5. object — a thing
  6. file — a line of people
  7. wound — an injury
  8. hand — in cards
  9. object — an aim
  10. hand — part of the body
  11. content — the amount
  12. wound — an injury
  13. content — happy
  14. perch — for a bird
  15. prune — to trim
  16. perch — for a bird
  17. field — farmland
  18. prune — the fruit
  19. object — to protest
  20. content — videos and posts
  21. hand — help
  22. file — a document
  23. perch — the fish
  24. field — for sport

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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