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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. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  2. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  3. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  4. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  5. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  6. Have you settled on a ________________?
  7. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  8. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  9. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  10. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  11. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  12. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  13. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  14. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  15. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  16. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  17. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  18. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  19. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  20. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  21. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  22. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  23. There's no middle ________________.
  24. A ________________ is just a dried plum.

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

Answer key

  1. wound — an injury
  2. date — the fruit
  3. ground — crushed
  4. field — farmland
  5. present — the time now
  6. date — on the calendar
  7. pitch — a sales talk
  8. branch — of a tree
  9. prune — to trim
  10. prune — to trim
  11. field — a subject
  12. wound — past of 'wind'
  13. field — for sport
  14. date — on the calendar
  15. ground — the earth
  16. pitch — a sports field
  17. wound — an injury
  18. present — a gift
  19. branch — a division
  20. branch — of a bank
  21. pitch — completely
  22. present — there
  23. ground — a position
  24. prune — the fruit

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