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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. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  2. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  3. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  4. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  5. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  6. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  7. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  8. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  9. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  10. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  11. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  12. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  13. The water is too ________________.
  14. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  15. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  16. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  17. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  18. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  19. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  20. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  21. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  22. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  23. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  24. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.

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

Answer key

  1. field — for sport
  2. row — to paddle
  3. band — a rubber band
  4. band — a music group
  5. prune — to trim
  6. prune — the fruit
  7. cold — an illness
  8. bass — the fish
  9. bass — the instrument
  10. root — of a plant
  11. row — a quarrel
  12. jam — in traffic
  13. cold — not warm
  14. jam — a tight spot
  15. bass — low music
  16. band — a ring
  17. row — a line
  18. cold — the Cold War
  19. root — the cause
  20. field — farmland
  21. field — a subject
  22. root — of a word
  23. jam — to spread on bread
  24. prune — to trim

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