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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. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  2. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  3. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  4. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  5. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  6. That was a fun ________________.
  7. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  8. He is an ace ________________.
  9. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  10. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  11. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  12. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  13. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  14. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  15. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  16. Have you settled on a ________________?
  17. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  18. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  19. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  20. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  21. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  22. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  23. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  24. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. prune — the fruit
  2. kick — in football
  3. kick — a thrill
  4. game — wild animals
  5. field — a subject
  6. game — a match
  7. game — a kind of play
  8. pitcher — in baseball
  9. date — on the calendar
  10. prune — to trim
  11. kick — with a leg
  12. field — farmland
  13. lean — to rest against
  14. date — the fruit
  15. field — for sport
  16. date — on the calendar
  17. race — the arms race
  18. lean — to bend
  19. lean — thin
  20. race — a contest
  21. prune — to trim
  22. pitcher — a jug
  23. pitcher — a jug
  24. race — humankind

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