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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. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  2. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  3. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  4. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  5. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  6. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  7. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  8. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  9. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  10. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  11. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  12. We're on a ________________ here.
  13. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  14. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  15. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  16. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  17. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  18. He is an ace ________________.
  19. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  20. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  21. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  22. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  23. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  24. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. roll — a list
  2. file — a tool
  3. prune — to trim
  4. wind — moving air
  5. roll — a cake
  6. rock — a stone
  7. prune — the fruit
  8. rock — music
  9. file — a line of people
  10. pitcher — a jug
  11. object — a thing
  12. roll — on a roll
  13. object — to protest
  14. prune — to trim
  15. field — for sport
  16. rock — to move gently
  17. pitcher — a jug
  18. pitcher — in baseball
  19. object — an aim
  20. wind — to turn a key
  21. file — a document
  22. field — a subject
  23. wind — moving air
  24. field — farmland

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