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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. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  2. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  3. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  4. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  5. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  6. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  7. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  8. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  9. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  10. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  11. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  12. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  13. When are we going to ________________?
  14. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  15. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  16. You don't need to ________________ round.
  17. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  18. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  19. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  20. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  21. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  22. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  23. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  24. We're almost out of ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. prune — the fruit
  2. prune — to trim
  3. prune — to trim
  4. field — for sport
  5. drill — army training
  6. drill — a practice
  7. drill — the tool
  8. wind — to turn a key
  9. cue — a hint
  10. wind — moving air
  11. pop — music
  12. land — a country
  13. land — to come down
  14. field — farmland
  15. cue — a signal
  16. pop — to visit
  17. cue — for pool
  18. capital — a big letter
  19. land — ground
  20. field — a subject
  21. capital — a city
  22. capital — money
  23. wind — moving air
  24. pop — soda

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