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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. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  2. Did you ________________ the meat?
  3. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  4. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  5. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  6. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  7. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  8. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  9. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  10. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  11. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  12. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  13. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  14. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  15. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  16. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  17. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  18. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  19. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  20. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  21. How do you ________________ your surname?
  22. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  23. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  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. prune — the fruit
  2. season — to add flavour
  3. capital — a city
  4. stick — to attach or keep to
  5. field — a subject
  6. race — a contest
  7. race — humankind
  8. race — the arms race
  9. capital — money
  10. kid — to tease
  11. field — farmland
  12. prune — to trim
  13. kid — child
  14. field — for sport
  15. stick — a piece of wood
  16. spell — a short time
  17. stick — a piece of wood
  18. season — in sport
  19. capital — a big letter
  20. spell — magic
  21. spell — letters
  22. prune — to trim
  23. season — of the year
  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