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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. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  2. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  3. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  4. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  5. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  6. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  7. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  8. Did you ________________ the meat?
  9. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  10. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  11. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  12. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  13. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  14. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  15. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  16. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  17. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  18. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  19. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  20. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  21. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  22. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  23. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  24. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.

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

Answer key

  1. prune — to trim
  2. field — a subject
  3. bark — to shout
  4. season — of the year
  5. cap — a lid
  6. kid — child
  7. lash — to lash out
  8. season — to add flavour
  9. lash — a whip stroke
  10. bark — of a tree
  11. patient — a sick person
  12. lash — an eyelash
  13. field — for sport
  14. prune — to trim
  15. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  16. field — farmland
  17. patient — a sick person
  18. kid — to tease
  19. patient — calm and waiting
  20. cap — of ice
  21. cap — a hat
  22. prune — the fruit
  23. season — in sport
  24. bark — a dog's sound

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