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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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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: ball · field · dip · prune · kid · face · row · sharp

  1. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  2. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  3. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  4. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  5. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  6. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  7. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  8. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  9. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  10. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  11. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  12. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  13. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  14. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  15. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  16. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  17. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  18. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  19. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  20. It's one o'clock ________________.
  21. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  22. The King held a masked ________________.
  23. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  24. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — to tease
  2. prune — to trim
  3. dip — a sauce
  4. row — a quarrel
  5. dip — to sink
  6. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  7. prune — to trim
  8. face — to point toward
  9. dip — to dunk
  10. prune — the fruit
  11. face — to confront
  12. row — a line
  13. sharp — with an edge
  14. field — farmland
  15. ball — a great time
  16. sharp — clever
  17. face — part of the head
  18. row — to paddle
  19. kid — child
  20. sharp — exactly
  21. ball — a round shape
  22. ball — a dance
  23. field — a subject
  24. field — for sport

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