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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. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  2. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  3. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  4. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  5. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  6. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  7. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  8. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  9. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  10. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  11. There's no middle ________________.
  12. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  13. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  14. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  15. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  16. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  17. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  18. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  19. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  20. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  21. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  22. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  23. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  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. prune — the fruit
  2. lie — an untruth
  3. bat — the animal
  4. branch — of a tree
  5. field — for sport
  6. degree — temperature
  7. prune — to trim
  8. ground — crushed
  9. pitch — a sports field
  10. branch — of a bank
  11. ground — a position
  12. lie — an untruth
  13. ground — the earth
  14. lie — to recline
  15. branch — a division
  16. prune — to trim
  17. degree — from a university
  18. bat — for baseball
  19. degree — an amount
  20. field — farmland
  21. bat — in an idiom
  22. pitch — completely
  23. pitch — a sales talk
  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