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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 assure you, everything's ________________.
  2. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  3. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  4. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  5. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  6. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  7. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  8. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  9. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  10. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  11. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  12. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  13. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  14. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  15. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  16. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  17. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  18. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  19. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  20. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  21. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  22. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  23. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  24. The ball hit the back of the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. fine — all right
  2. net — after costs
  3. band — a rubber band
  4. track — to keep track
  5. can — a tin
  6. field — a subject
  7. can — to be able to
  8. field — farmland
  9. field — for sport
  10. prune — the fruit
  11. band — a ring
  12. chest — of your body
  13. track — a path
  14. can — a tin
  15. prune — to trim
  16. prune — to trim
  17. band — a music group
  18. track — a song
  19. fine — a penalty
  20. fine — high quality
  21. chest — of your body
  22. net — for catching
  23. chest — a box
  24. net — in 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