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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: wake · kid · prune · bass · field · net · race · perch

  1. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  2. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  3. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  4. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  5. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  6. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  7. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  8. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  9. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  10. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  11. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  12. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  13. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  14. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  15. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  16. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  17. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  18. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  19. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  20. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  21. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  22. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  23. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  24. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bass — low music
  2. field — farmland
  3. perch — the fish
  4. race — humankind
  5. net — for catching
  6. prune — to trim
  7. kid — to tease
  8. bass — the fish
  9. bass — the instrument
  10. wake — before a funeral
  11. wake — to stop sleeping
  12. perch — for a bird
  13. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  14. race — the arms race
  15. kid — child
  16. race — a contest
  17. net — after costs
  18. field — for sport
  19. field — a subject
  20. net — in sport
  21. prune — to trim
  22. wake — a trail
  23. prune — the fruit
  24. perch — for a bird

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