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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 116 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 ________________ took off on time.
  2. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  3. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  4. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  5. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  6. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  7. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  8. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  9. The King held a masked ________________.
  10. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  11. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  12. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  13. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  14. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  15. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  18. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  19. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  20. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  21. The water is too ________________.
  22. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  23. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  24. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. plane — an aircraft
  2. prune — to trim
  3. prune — the fruit
  4. wake — to stop sleeping
  5. prune — to trim
  6. ball — a round shape
  7. field — a subject
  8. rest — what's left
  9. ball — a dance
  10. wake — a trail
  11. bowl — a dish
  12. rest — what's left
  13. cold — the Cold War
  14. ball — a great time
  15. rest — a break
  16. cold — an illness
  17. wake — before a funeral
  18. bowl — to roll
  19. plane — in geometry
  20. plane — a tool
  21. cold — not warm
  22. field — farmland
  23. bowl — a football final
  24. field — for sport

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