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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. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  2. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  3. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  4. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  5. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  6. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  7. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  8. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  9. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  10. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  11. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  12. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  13. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  14. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  15. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  16. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  17. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  18. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  19. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  20. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  21. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  22. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  23. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  24. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.

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

Answer key

  1. prune — to trim
  2. march — the month
  3. prune — to trim
  4. field — a subject
  5. field — farmland
  6. straw — to clutch at straws
  7. race — the arms race
  8. straw — a straw man
  9. straw — dry grass
  10. safe — a strongbox
  11. race — a contest
  12. race — humankind
  13. fall — to drop
  14. safe — out of danger
  15. field — for sport
  16. prune — the fruit
  17. march — music
  18. safe — out of danger
  19. fall — to drop
  20. march — the month
  21. spring — of water
  22. fall — the season
  23. spring — the season
  24. spring — a coil

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