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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. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  3. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  4. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  5. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  6. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  7. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  8. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  9. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  10. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  11. He works in a ________________ mill.
  12. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  13. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  14. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  15. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  16. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  17. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  18. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  19. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  20. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  21. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  22. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  23. She's very handy with a ________________.
  24. Do you need a ________________ with that?

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

Answer key

  1. prune — to trim
  2. race — humankind
  3. field — for sport
  4. lie — to recline
  5. saw — past of 'see'
  6. field — farmland
  7. lie — an untruth
  8. rule — to rule out
  9. trunk — of a tree
  10. prune — to trim
  11. saw — the tool
  12. race — a contest
  13. prune — the fruit
  14. lie — an untruth
  15. hand — in cards
  16. hand — part of the body
  17. trunk — of a car
  18. trunk — of an elephant
  19. rule — a law
  20. field — a subject
  21. race — the arms race
  22. rule — government
  23. saw — the tool
  24. hand — help

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