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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. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  2. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  3. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  4. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  5. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  6. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  7. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  8. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  9. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  10. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  11. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  12. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  13. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  14. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  15. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  16. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  17. Have you met the new head ________________?
  18. When are we going to ________________?
  19. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  20. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  21. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  22. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  23. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  24. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.

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

Answer key

  1. prune — to trim
  2. hand — part of the body
  3. field — farmland
  4. land — a country
  5. dip — to sink
  6. bass — the instrument
  7. prune — to trim
  8. prune — the fruit
  9. bass — the fish
  10. scale — in music
  11. scale — for weighing
  12. coach — pulled by horses
  13. scale — size or range
  14. coach — a trainer
  15. hand — in cards
  16. dip — a sauce
  17. coach — a trainer
  18. land — to come down
  19. field — a subject
  20. field — for sport
  21. bass — low music
  22. land — ground
  23. hand — help
  24. dip — to dunk

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