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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. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  3. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  4. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  5. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  6. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  7. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  8. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  9. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  10. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  11. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  12. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  13. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  14. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  15. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  16. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  17. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  18. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  19. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  20. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  21. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  22. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  23. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  24. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. field — farmland
  2. prune — to trim
  3. club — for dancing
  4. scale — for weighing
  5. mark — to pay attention
  6. scale — in music
  7. mark — a trace
  8. clip — a video
  9. scale — size or range
  10. net — after costs
  11. object — a thing
  12. field — a subject
  13. field — for sport
  14. clip — to cut
  15. prune — to trim
  16. net — in sport
  17. club — a group
  18. mark — a grade
  19. net — for catching
  20. object — to protest
  21. object — an aim
  22. prune — the fruit
  23. clip — for paper
  24. club — for golf

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