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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 cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  2. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  3. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  4. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  5. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  6. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  7. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  8. Don't do anything ________________.
  9. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  10. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  11. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  12. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  13. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  14. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  15. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  16. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  17. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  18. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  19. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  20. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  21. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  22. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  23. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  24. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.

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

Answer key

  1. prune — to trim
  2. march — the month
  3. prune — the fruit
  4. dip — to sink
  5. field — for sport
  6. dip — to dunk
  7. prune — to trim
  8. rash — hasty
  9. rash — a series
  10. chair — to sit on
  11. field — farmland
  12. net — for catching
  13. field — a subject
  14. dip — a sauce
  15. race — the arms race
  16. march — music
  17. net — in sport
  18. march — the month
  19. net — after costs
  20. race — humankind
  21. rash — on the skin
  22. race — a contest
  23. chair — a professorship
  24. chair — a leader

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