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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 ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  2. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  3. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  4. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  5. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  6. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  7. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  8. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  9. Don't do anything ________________.
  10. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  11. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  12. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  13. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  14. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  15. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  16. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  17. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  18. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  19. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  20. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  21. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  22. The ________________ took off on time.
  23. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  24. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — the animal
  2. field — farmland
  3. hide — to keep secret
  4. row — a quarrel
  5. dip — a sauce
  6. row — to paddle
  7. rash — a series
  8. bat — for baseball
  9. rash — hasty
  10. row — a line
  11. hide — to keep secret
  12. rash — on the skin
  13. plane — a tool
  14. dip — to dunk
  15. field — for sport
  16. hide — animal skin
  17. bat — in an idiom
  18. prune — to trim
  19. prune — the fruit
  20. prune — to trim
  21. field — a subject
  22. plane — an aircraft
  23. plane — in geometry
  24. dip — to sink

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