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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. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  2. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  3. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  4. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  5. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  6. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  7. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  8. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  9. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  10. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  11. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  12. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  13. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  14. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  15. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  16. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  17. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  18. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  19. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  20. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  21. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  22. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  23. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  24. He is an ace ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bore — to tire
  2. march — the month
  3. prune — to trim
  4. prune — to trim
  5. pitcher — a jug
  6. field — a subject
  7. lean — thin
  8. field — for sport
  9. wave — of the sea
  10. chair — a leader
  11. field — farmland
  12. lean — to bend
  13. pitcher — a jug
  14. wave — with your hand
  15. bore — to drill
  16. chair — to sit on
  17. lean — to rest against
  18. prune — the fruit
  19. wave — a sudden rise
  20. chair — a professorship
  21. march — music
  22. bore — gave birth
  23. march — the month
  24. pitcher — in baseball

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