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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. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  2. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  3. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  4. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  5. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  6. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  7. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  8. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  9. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  10. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  11. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  12. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  13. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  14. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  15. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  16. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  17. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  18. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  19. When was this ________________ built?
  20. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  21. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  22. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  23. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  24. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — to tease
  2. field — a subject
  3. wake — a trail
  4. temple — a place of worship
  5. wake — to stop sleeping
  6. cap — a hat
  7. bore — gave birth
  8. field — farmland
  9. prune — to trim
  10. bark — of a tree
  11. cap — of ice
  12. field — for sport
  13. bore — to tire
  14. temple — side of the head
  15. cap — a lid
  16. prune — the fruit
  17. bark — a dog's sound
  18. wake — before a funeral
  19. temple — a place of worship
  20. bore — to drill
  21. bark — to shout
  22. kid — child
  23. prune — to trim
  24. kid — young goat (kid gloves)

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