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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 cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  2. Don't do anything ________________.
  3. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  4. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  5. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  6. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  7. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  8. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  9. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  10. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  11. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  12. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  13. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  14. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  15. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  16. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  17. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  18. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  19. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  20. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  21. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  22. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  23. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  24. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.

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

Answer key

  1. prune — to trim
  2. rash — hasty
  3. spring — of water
  4. spring — the season
  5. snap — to snap out of it
  6. face — to confront
  7. rock — music
  8. field — farmland
  9. spring — a coil
  10. rash — on the skin
  11. face — part of the head
  12. rock — to move gently
  13. field — for sport
  14. snap — to click
  15. rash — a series
  16. bass — the instrument
  17. prune — to trim
  18. rock — a stone
  19. bass — low music
  20. bass — the fish
  21. snap — to speak sharply
  22. field — a subject
  23. prune — the fruit
  24. face — to point toward

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