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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. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  2. Have you found your soul ________________?
  3. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  4. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  5. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  6. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  7. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  8. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  9. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  10. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  11. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  12. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  13. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  14. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  15. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  16. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  17. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  18. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  19. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  20. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  21. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  22. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  23. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  24. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. prune — to trim
  2. mate — a partner
  3. race — a contest
  4. field — a subject
  5. safe — a strongbox
  6. safe — out of danger
  7. chest — of your body
  8. field — for sport
  9. prune — to trim
  10. drill — army training
  11. mate — a friend
  12. mate — to breed
  13. drill — the tool
  14. drill — a practice
  15. pit — a fruit stone
  16. field — farmland
  17. chest — a box
  18. pit — in a race
  19. chest — of your body
  20. prune — the fruit
  21. pit — a hole
  22. race — the arms race
  23. safe — out of danger
  24. race — humankind

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