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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 116 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. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  2. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  3. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  4. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  5. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  6. How do you ________________ your surname?
  7. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  8. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  9. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  10. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  11. He was locked up in a ________________.
  12. You don't need to ________________ round.
  13. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  14. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  15. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  16. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  17. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  18. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  19. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  20. We're almost out of ________________.
  21. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  22. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  23. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  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. hand — part of the body
  2. mark — to pay attention
  3. bank — for money
  4. field — a subject
  5. spell — a short time
  6. spell — letters
  7. hand — in cards
  8. mark — a trace
  9. bank — for money
  10. prune — to trim
  11. cell — in a prison
  12. pop — to visit
  13. prune — to trim
  14. hand — help
  15. cell — a phone
  16. field — farmland
  17. cell — in biology
  18. spell — magic
  19. pop — music
  20. pop — soda
  21. bank — of a river
  22. mark — a grade
  23. prune — the fruit
  24. field — for sport

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