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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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Word bank
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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: key · field · fork · game · saw · prune

  1. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  2. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  3. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  4. This piece is in a major ________________.
  5. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  6. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  7. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  8. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  9. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  10. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  11. That was a fun ________________.
  12. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  13. She's very handy with a ________________.
  14. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  15. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  16. He works in a ________________ mill.
  17. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  18. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.

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

Answer key

  1. field — farmland
  2. prune — to trim
  3. key — for a lock
  4. key — in music
  5. saw — past of 'see'
  6. field — for sport
  7. fork — to eat with
  8. prune — to trim
  9. key — the most important part
  10. fork — a garden tool
  11. game — a match
  12. game — a kind of play
  13. saw — the tool
  14. game — wild animals
  15. prune — the fruit
  16. saw — the tool
  17. fork — in a road
  18. field — a subject

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