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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. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  2. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  3. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  4. He is an ace ________________.
  5. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  6. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  7. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  8. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  9. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  10. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  11. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  12. Did you ________________ the meat?
  13. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  14. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  15. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  16. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  17. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  18. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  19. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  20. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  21. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  22. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  23. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  24. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.

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

Answer key

  1. wake — to stop sleeping
  2. pitcher — a jug
  3. cap — a lid
  4. pitcher — in baseball
  5. wake — before a funeral
  6. prune — the fruit
  7. field — for sport
  8. field — a subject
  9. current — of water
  10. clip — for paper
  11. clip — to cut
  12. season — to add flavour
  13. wake — a trail
  14. prune — to trim
  15. field — farmland
  16. cap — of ice
  17. season — in sport
  18. prune — to trim
  19. cap — a hat
  20. pitcher — a jug
  21. clip — a video
  22. season — of the year
  23. current — electric
  24. current — happening now

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