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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. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  2. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  3. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  4. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  5. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  6. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  7. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  8. The ball is in your ________________.
  9. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  10. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  11. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  12. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  13. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  14. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  15. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  16. This piece is in a major ________________.
  17. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  18. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  19. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  20. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  21. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  22. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  23. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  24. Hard work is the ________________ to success.

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

Answer key

  1. prune — the fruit
  2. stem — of a plant
  3. ruler — a monarch
  4. content — videos and posts
  5. field — farmland
  6. stem — to come from
  7. content — the amount
  8. court — for sport
  9. stem — a stem cell
  10. mine — belonging to me
  11. field — for sport
  12. prune — to trim
  13. ruler — for measuring
  14. mine — for digging
  15. prune — to trim
  16. key — in music
  17. content — happy
  18. key — for a lock
  19. court — of a king
  20. field — a subject
  21. court — of law
  22. ruler — for measuring
  23. mine — an explosive
  24. key — the most important part

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