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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 had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  2. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  3. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  4. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  5. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  6. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  7. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  8. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  9. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  10. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  11. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  12. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  13. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  14. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  15. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  16. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  17. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  18. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  19. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  20. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  21. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  22. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  23. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  24. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — child
  2. prune — the fruit
  3. field — for sport
  4. prune — to trim
  5. patient — a sick person
  6. kid — to tease
  7. bore — to drill
  8. field — a subject
  9. fan — a supporter
  10. track — a path
  11. fan — to cool the air
  12. bark — to shout
  13. prune — to trim
  14. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  15. bore — gave birth
  16. bore — to tire
  17. bark — of a tree
  18. track — to keep track
  19. fan — a supporter
  20. field — farmland
  21. patient — calm and waiting
  22. bark — a dog's sound
  23. track — a song
  24. patient — a sick person

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