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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 124 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'll take my ________________ from you.
  2. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  3. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  4. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  5. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  6. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  7. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  8. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  9. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  10. David sat on the ________________.
  11. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  12. How do you ________________ your surname?
  13. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  14. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  15. Did you ________________ the meat?
  16. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  17. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  18. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  19. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  20. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  21. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  22. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  23. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  24. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.

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

Answer key

  1. cue — a hint
  2. net — after costs
  3. season — of the year
  4. spell — a short time
  5. cue — for pool
  6. prune — to trim
  7. bark — of a tree
  8. prune — the fruit
  9. swing — music
  10. swing — to play on
  11. cue — a signal
  12. spell — letters
  13. spell — magic
  14. net — in sport
  15. season — to add flavour
  16. field — for sport
  17. bark — a dog's sound
  18. prune — to trim
  19. season — in sport
  20. field — farmland
  21. bark — to shout
  22. net — for catching
  23. swing — in golf
  24. field — a subject

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