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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. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  3. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  4. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  5. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  6. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  7. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  8. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  9. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  10. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  11. Did you ________________ the meat?
  12. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  13. That was a fun ________________.
  14. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  15. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  16. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  17. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  18. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  19. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  20. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  21. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  22. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  23. How do you ________________ your surname?
  24. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. prune — to trim
  2. spell — a short time
  3. content — videos and posts
  4. bass — the fish
  5. field — a subject
  6. content — happy
  7. prune — to trim
  8. season — of the year
  9. field — for sport
  10. field — farmland
  11. season — to add flavour
  12. game — a kind of play
  13. game — a match
  14. cap — a hat
  15. content — the amount
  16. prune — the fruit
  17. spell — magic
  18. bass — the instrument
  19. cap — a lid
  20. bass — low music
  21. game — wild animals
  22. cap — of ice
  23. spell — letters
  24. season — 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