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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. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  3. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  4. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  5. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  6. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  7. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  8. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  9. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  10. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  11. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  12. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  13. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  14. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  15. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  16. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  17. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  18. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  19. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  20. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  21. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  22. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  23. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  24. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. prune — to trim
  2. chest — of your body
  3. field — for sport
  4. fine — all right
  5. content — the amount
  6. fine — a penalty
  7. content — videos and posts
  8. vault — in gymnastics
  9. fork — to eat with
  10. content — happy
  11. prune — to trim
  12. fine — high quality
  13. patient — a sick person
  14. vault — a safe
  15. prune — the fruit
  16. patient — calm and waiting
  17. fork — a garden tool
  18. chest — of your body
  19. field — a subject
  20. patient — a sick person
  21. vault — an arched ceiling
  22. chest — a box
  23. fork — in a road
  24. field — farmland

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