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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. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  2. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  3. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  4. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  5. When are we going to ________________?
  6. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  7. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  8. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  9. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  10. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  11. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  12. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  13. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  14. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  15. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  16. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  17. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  18. It's one o'clock ________________.
  19. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  20. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  21. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  22. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  23. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  24. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.

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

Answer key

  1. cap — of ice
  2. cap — a lid
  3. sharp — clever
  4. prune — to trim
  5. land — to come down
  6. snap — to click
  7. mark — a trace
  8. mark — a grade
  9. sharp — with an edge
  10. cap — a hat
  11. march — the month
  12. field — for sport
  13. field — farmland
  14. march — the month
  15. snap — to snap out of it
  16. mark — to pay attention
  17. march — music
  18. sharp — exactly
  19. prune — the fruit
  20. snap — to speak sharply
  21. land — a country
  22. prune — to trim
  23. land — ground
  24. field — a subject

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