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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 120 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. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  3. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  4. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  5. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  6. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  7. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  8. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  9. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  10. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  11. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  12. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  13. That was a fun ________________.
  14. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  15. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  16. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  17. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  18. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  19. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  20. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  21. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  22. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  23. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  24. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. prune — to trim
  2. content — happy
  3. club — for golf
  4. foot — a measure
  5. content — the amount
  6. kid — to tease
  7. field — a subject
  8. calf — of the leg
  9. game — a kind of play
  10. kid — child
  11. club — for dancing
  12. field — for sport
  13. game — a match
  14. foot — part of the body
  15. foot — the bottom
  16. prune — the fruit
  17. calf — a young animal
  18. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  19. calf — a young animal
  20. field — farmland
  21. club — a group
  22. prune — to trim
  23. game — wild animals
  24. content — videos and posts

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