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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 cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  2. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  3. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  4. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  5. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  6. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  7. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  8. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  9. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  10. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  11. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  12. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  13. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  14. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  15. He was locked up in a ________________.
  16. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  17. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  18. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  19. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  20. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  21. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  22. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  23. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  24. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?

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

Answer key

  1. prune — to trim
  2. cell — in biology
  3. jam — to spread on bread
  4. chair — a leader
  5. club — a group
  6. club — for golf
  7. club — for dancing
  8. field — a subject
  9. prune — to trim
  10. chest — of your body
  11. chair — a professorship
  12. chest — a box
  13. jam — a tight spot
  14. chair — to sit on
  15. cell — in a prison
  16. field — for sport
  17. prune — the fruit
  18. cell — a phone
  19. chest — of your body
  20. jam — in traffic
  21. degree — from a university
  22. degree — temperature
  23. field — farmland
  24. degree — an amount

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