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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. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  2. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  3. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  4. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  5. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  6. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  7. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  8. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  9. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  10. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  11. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  12. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  13. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  14. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  15. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  16. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  17. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  18. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  19. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  20. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  21. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  22. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  23. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  24. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.

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

Answer key

  1. field — for sport
  2. prune — the fruit
  3. prune — to trim
  4. band — a rubber band
  5. hide — to keep secret
  6. kid — child
  7. field — farmland
  8. branch — of a bank
  9. band — a ring
  10. branch — of a tree
  11. snap — to speak sharply
  12. prune — to trim
  13. snap — to snap out of it
  14. staff — employees
  15. kid — to tease
  16. hide — animal skin
  17. snap — to click
  18. staff — employees
  19. branch — a division
  20. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  21. staff — a stick
  22. hide — to keep secret
  23. band — a music group
  24. field — a subject

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