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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. There's no middle ________________.
  2. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  3. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  4. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  5. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  6. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  7. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  8. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  9. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  10. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  11. He is an ace ________________.
  12. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  13. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  14. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  15. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  16. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  17. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  18. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  19. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  20. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  21. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  22. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  23. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  24. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.

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

Answer key

  1. ground — a position
  2. ground — crushed
  3. prune — to trim
  4. field — for sport
  5. field — farmland
  6. prune — to trim
  7. pitcher — a jug
  8. wax — for sculpting
  9. fan — a supporter
  10. shower — a meteor shower
  11. pitcher — in baseball
  12. rule — government
  13. fan — to cool the air
  14. shower — to wash
  15. pitcher — a jug
  16. field — a subject
  17. ground — the earth
  18. wax — to grow
  19. shower — rain
  20. fan — a supporter
  21. prune — the fruit
  22. wax — in the ear
  23. rule — a law
  24. rule — to rule out

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