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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. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  2. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  3. That was a fun ________________.
  4. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  5. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  6. It's one o'clock ________________.
  7. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  8. The water is too ________________.
  9. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  10. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  11. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  12. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  13. The tickets are free of ________________.
  14. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  15. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  16. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  17. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  18. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  19. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  20. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  21. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  22. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  23. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  24. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.

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

Answer key

  1. field — a subject
  2. prune — to trim
  3. game — a match
  4. sharp — with an edge
  5. stick — a piece of wood
  6. sharp — exactly
  7. cold — an illness
  8. cold — not warm
  9. prune — to trim
  10. prune — the fruit
  11. stick — to attach or keep to
  12. charge — electricity
  13. charge — a price
  14. stick — a piece of wood
  15. game — wild animals
  16. charge — in control
  17. firm — steady
  18. field — for sport
  19. firm — a company
  20. game — a kind of play
  21. firm — decided
  22. field — farmland
  23. sharp — clever
  24. cold — the Cold War

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