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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 116 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. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  3. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  4. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  5. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  6. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  7. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  8. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  9. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  10. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  11. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  12. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  13. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  14. The ________________ market has crashed.
  15. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  16. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  17. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  18. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  19. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  20. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  21. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  22. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  23. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  24. We had a fire ________________ at school today.

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

Answer key

  1. prune — to trim
  2. prune — the fruit
  3. cap — a hat
  4. stock — goods
  5. field — farmland
  6. drill — the tool
  7. stock — a soup base
  8. leaves — to go away
  9. fork — to eat with
  10. cap — of ice
  11. pitch — completely
  12. prune — to trim
  13. leaves — of a tree
  14. stock — shares
  15. field — for sport
  16. pitch — a sales talk
  17. drill — army training
  18. pitch — a sports field
  19. field — a subject
  20. fork — in a road
  21. fork — a garden tool
  22. cap — a lid
  23. leaves — lets stay
  24. drill — a practice

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