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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 from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: nail · kid · rule · prune · bear · field

  1. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  2. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  3. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  4. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  5. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  6. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  7. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  8. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  9. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  10. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  11. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  12. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  13. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  14. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  15. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  16. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  17. The ________________ went through the wall.
  18. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.

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

Answer key

  1. nail — for a hammer
  2. kid — to tease
  3. kid — child
  4. rule — to rule out
  5. field — farmland
  6. rule — a law
  7. prune — to trim
  8. bear — the animal
  9. prune — the fruit
  10. field — a subject
  11. rule — government
  12. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  13. prune — to trim
  14. bear — to put up with
  15. bear — the animal
  16. field — for sport
  17. nail — for a hammer
  18. nail — on a finger

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