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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. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  2. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  3. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  4. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  5. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  6. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  7. That was ________________ to happen.
  8. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  9. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  10. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  11. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  12. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  13. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  14. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  15. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  16. When was this ________________ built?
  17. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  18. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  19. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  20. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  21. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  22. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  23. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  24. Check the label for the sugar ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. prune — to trim
  2. chair — to sit on
  3. pound — for dogs
  4. temple — side of the head
  5. chair — a leader
  6. prune — to trim
  7. bound — certain
  8. chair — a professorship
  9. pound — a weight
  10. temple — a place of worship
  11. wind — moving air
  12. prune — the fruit
  13. field — farmland
  14. bound — tied together
  15. bound — obliged
  16. temple — a place of worship
  17. wind — moving air
  18. content — happy
  19. content — videos and posts
  20. wind — to turn a key
  21. field — for sport
  22. pound — to hit hard
  23. field — a subject
  24. content — the amount

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