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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 116 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. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  2. He is an ace ________________.
  3. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  4. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  5. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  6. Don't do anything ________________.
  7. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  8. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  9. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  10. Did you ________________ the meat?
  11. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  12. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  13. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  14. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  15. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  16. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  17. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  18. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  19. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  20. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  21. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  22. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  23. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  24. Boris sat near the fire ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pound — for dogs
  2. pitcher — in baseball
  3. prune — to trim
  4. bat — in an idiom
  5. rash — on the skin
  6. rash — hasty
  7. pitcher — a jug
  8. field — a subject
  9. field — for sport
  10. season — to add flavour
  11. pound — a weight
  12. pit — a fruit stone
  13. season — in sport
  14. prune — the fruit
  15. prune — to trim
  16. pitcher — a jug
  17. bat — for baseball
  18. season — of the year
  19. field — farmland
  20. bat — the animal
  21. rash — a series
  22. pit — in a race
  23. pound — to hit hard
  24. pit — a hole

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