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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 120 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. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  3. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  4. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  5. The tickets are free of ________________.
  6. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  7. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  8. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  9. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  10. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  11. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  12. David sat on the ________________.
  13. The water is too ________________.
  14. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  15. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  16. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  17. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  18. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  19. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  20. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  21. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  22. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  23. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  24. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. prune — to trim
  2. swing — music
  3. cold — the Cold War
  4. field — a subject
  5. charge — a price
  6. bore — to tire
  7. ruler — for measuring
  8. field — for sport
  9. face — to point toward
  10. prune — the fruit
  11. ruler — for measuring
  12. swing — to play on
  13. cold — not warm
  14. bore — to drill
  15. swing — in golf
  16. face — part of the head
  17. charge — electricity
  18. prune — to trim
  19. cold — an illness
  20. charge — in control
  21. bore — gave birth
  22. ruler — a monarch
  23. face — to confront
  24. field — farmland

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