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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. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  2. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  3. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  4. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  5. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  6. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  7. The King held a masked ________________.
  8. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  9. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  10. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  11. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  12. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  13. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  14. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  15. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  16. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  17. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  18. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  19. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  20. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  21. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  22. I can't ________________ this cold.
  23. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  24. He's taking a ________________ right now.

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

Answer key

  1. prune — to trim
  2. field — a subject
  3. ball — a round shape
  4. shower — rain
  5. spring — the season
  6. prune — to trim
  7. ball — a dance
  8. pitch — completely
  9. spring — of water
  10. ball — a great time
  11. bat — in an idiom
  12. field — farmland
  13. prune — the fruit
  14. pitch — a sports field
  15. bat — the animal
  16. bat — for baseball
  17. spring — a coil
  18. field — for sport
  19. pitch — a sales talk
  20. stand — on your feet
  21. stand — for spectators
  22. stand — to bear
  23. shower — a meteor shower
  24. shower — to wash

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