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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. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  2. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  3. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  4. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  5. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  6. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  7. What do you think of the new ________________?
  8. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  9. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  10. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  13. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  14. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  15. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  16. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  17. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  18. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  19. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  20. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  21. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  22. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  23. It's one o'clock ________________.
  24. This knife is not ________________ enough.

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

Answer key

  1. prune — the fruit
  2. field — a subject
  3. kid — to tease
  4. cold — an illness
  5. prune — to trim
  6. wound — past of 'wind'
  7. cabinet — ministers
  8. board — to get on
  9. field — farmland
  10. wound — an injury
  11. cold — not warm
  12. sharp — clever
  13. kid — child
  14. board — a flat piece
  15. board — a committee
  16. cabinet — ministers
  17. field — for sport
  18. cold — the Cold War
  19. wound — an injury
  20. prune — to trim
  21. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  22. cabinet — a cupboard
  23. sharp — exactly
  24. sharp — with an edge

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