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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 got dealt a bad ________________.
  2. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  3. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  4. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  5. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  6. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  7. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  8. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  9. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  10. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  11. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  12. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  13. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  14. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  15. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  16. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  17. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  18. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  19. He is an ace ________________.
  20. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  21. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  22. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  23. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  24. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — in cards
  2. pitcher — a jug
  3. vault — in gymnastics
  4. leaves — to go away
  5. prune — to trim
  6. shower — to wash
  7. leaves — of a tree
  8. hand — help
  9. field — farmland
  10. current — happening now
  11. prune — to trim
  12. prune — the fruit
  13. vault — a safe
  14. shower — rain
  15. vault — an arched ceiling
  16. field — for sport
  17. shower — a meteor shower
  18. pitcher — a jug
  19. pitcher — in baseball
  20. hand — part of the body
  21. current — electric
  22. current — of water
  23. field — a subject
  24. leaves — lets stay

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