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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'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  2. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  3. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  4. That was a fun ________________.
  5. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  6. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  7. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  8. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  9. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  10. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  11. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  12. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  13. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  14. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  15. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  16. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  17. When are we going to ________________?
  18. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  19. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  20. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  21. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  22. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  23. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  24. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.

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

Answer key

  1. land — ground
  2. prune — to trim
  3. wake — a trail
  4. game — a match
  5. game — wild animals
  6. perch — the fish
  7. trunk — of a tree
  8. field — for sport
  9. land — a country
  10. field — farmland
  11. game — a kind of play
  12. pit — in a race
  13. pit — a hole
  14. prune — the fruit
  15. perch — for a bird
  16. wake — before a funeral
  17. land — to come down
  18. perch — for a bird
  19. trunk — of an elephant
  20. field — a subject
  21. trunk — of a car
  22. wake — to stop sleeping
  23. pit — a fruit stone
  24. prune — to trim

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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