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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. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  2. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  3. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  4. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  5. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  6. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  7. You don't need to ________________ round.
  8. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  9. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  10. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  11. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  12. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  13. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  14. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  15. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  16. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  17. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  18. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  19. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  20. We're almost out of ________________.
  21. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  22. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  23. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  24. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.

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

Answer key

  1. prune — to trim
  2. stem — to come from
  3. prune — to trim
  4. current — happening now
  5. stem — a stem cell
  6. stem — of a plant
  7. pop — to visit
  8. spring — of water
  9. field — a subject
  10. current — of water
  11. field — for sport
  12. field — farmland
  13. squash — to crush
  14. band — a music group
  15. squash — the vegetable
  16. band — a ring
  17. spring — a coil
  18. spring — the season
  19. pop — music
  20. pop — soda
  21. prune — the fruit
  22. current — electric
  23. squash — the sport
  24. band — a rubber band

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