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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. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  2. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  3. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  4. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  5. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  6. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  7. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  8. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  9. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  10. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  11. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  12. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  13. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  14. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  15. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  16. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  17. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  18. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  19. He was locked up in a ________________.
  20. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  21. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  22. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  23. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  24. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.

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

Answer key

  1. field — farmland
  2. scale — for weighing
  3. prune — the fruit
  4. prune — to trim
  5. clip — a video
  6. bank — of a river
  7. bank — for money
  8. field — a subject
  9. prune — to trim
  10. pound — a weight
  11. field — for sport
  12. clip — for paper
  13. chip — for betting
  14. cell — in biology
  15. scale — in music
  16. pound — for dogs
  17. cell — a phone
  18. clip — to cut
  19. cell — in a prison
  20. chip — in a computer
  21. bank — for money
  22. scale — size or range
  23. chip — to eat
  24. pound — to hit hard

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