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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. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  2. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  3. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  4. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  5. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  6. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  7. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  8. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  9. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  10. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  11. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  12. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  13. False peace will not ________________.
  14. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  15. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  16. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  17. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  18. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  19. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  20. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  21. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  22. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  23. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  24. It's one o'clock ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. prune — to trim
  2. prune — to trim
  3. race — humankind
  4. perch — the fish
  5. race — the arms race
  6. sharp — clever
  7. field — for sport
  8. prune — the fruit
  9. bore — to drill
  10. last — final
  11. pound — for dogs
  12. bore — to tire
  13. last — to go on
  14. sharp — with an edge
  15. perch — for a bird
  16. bore — gave birth
  17. perch — for a bird
  18. pound — to hit hard
  19. race — a contest
  20. pound — a weight
  21. field — farmland
  22. last — finally
  23. field — a subject
  24. sharp — exactly

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