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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. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  2. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  3. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  4. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  5. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  6. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  7. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  8. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  9. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  10. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  11. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  12. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  13. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  14. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  15. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  16. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  17. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  18. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  19. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  20. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  21. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  22. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  23. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  24. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.

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

Answer key

  1. racket — for tennis
  2. wake — before a funeral
  3. pitch — a sales talk
  4. prune — to trim
  5. field — a subject
  6. racket — a loud noise
  7. prune — the fruit
  8. racket — for tennis
  9. hand — part of the body
  10. field — farmland
  11. fork — in a road
  12. field — for sport
  13. pit — in a race
  14. pit — a fruit stone
  15. wake — a trail
  16. wake — to stop sleeping
  17. pitch — a sports field
  18. pitch — completely
  19. prune — to trim
  20. pit — a hole
  21. fork — to eat with
  22. hand — help
  23. hand — in cards
  24. fork — a garden tool

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