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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 120 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 water is too ________________.
  2. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  3. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  4. The ________________ went through the wall.
  5. Where did you ________________ them?
  6. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  7. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  8. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  9. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  10. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  11. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  12. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  13. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  14. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  15. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  16. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  17. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  18. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  19. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  20. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  21. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  22. He is an ace ________________.
  23. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  24. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. net — in sport
  3. nail — for a hammer
  4. nail — for a hammer
  5. mug — to rob
  6. pitcher — a jug
  7. prune — to trim
  8. bank — of a river
  9. bank — for money
  10. cold — an illness
  11. mug — a face
  12. net — for catching
  13. field — farmland
  14. field — a subject
  15. bank — for money
  16. prune — to trim
  17. field — for sport
  18. mug — a cup
  19. nail — on a finger
  20. net — after costs
  21. pitcher — a jug
  22. pitcher — in baseball
  23. prune — the fruit
  24. cold — the Cold War

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