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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. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  2. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  3. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  4. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  5. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  6. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  7. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  8. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  9. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  10. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  11. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  12. He was locked up in a ________________.
  13. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  14. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  15. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  16. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  17. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  18. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  19. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  20. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  21. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  22. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  23. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  24. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.

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

Answer key

  1. prune — the fruit
  2. lean — thin
  3. bat — in an idiom
  4. cell — a phone
  5. prune — to trim
  6. degree — an amount
  7. degree — from a university
  8. firm — a company
  9. racket — for tennis
  10. field — for sport
  11. degree — temperature
  12. cell — in a prison
  13. bat — the animal
  14. firm — steady
  15. racket — a loud noise
  16. racket — for tennis
  17. field — farmland
  18. field — a subject
  19. lean — to bend
  20. bat — for baseball
  21. cell — in biology
  22. firm — decided
  23. prune — to trim
  24. lean — to rest against

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