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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'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  2. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  3. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  4. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  5. He is an ace ________________.
  6. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  7. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  8. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  9. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  10. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  11. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  12. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  13. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  14. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  15. The ________________ took off on time.
  16. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  17. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  18. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  19. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  20. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  21. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  22. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  23. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  24. A ________________ is just a dried plum.

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

Answer key

  1. firm — steady
  2. firm — decided
  3. fan — a supporter
  4. field — farmland
  5. pitcher — in baseball
  6. firm — a company
  7. fan — to cool the air
  8. spring — the season
  9. spring — a coil
  10. net — in sport
  11. field — a subject
  12. plane — a tool
  13. field — for sport
  14. plane — in geometry
  15. plane — an aircraft
  16. spring — of water
  17. fan — a supporter
  18. net — for catching
  19. prune — to trim
  20. pitcher — a jug
  21. prune — to trim
  22. net — after costs
  23. pitcher — a jug
  24. prune — the fruit

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