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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 124 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: field · cap · hand · prune · spell · wind · bat · toast

  1. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  2. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  3. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  4. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  5. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  6. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  7. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  8. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  9. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  10. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  11. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  12. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  13. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  14. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  15. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  16. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  17. How do you ________________ your surname?
  18. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  19. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  20. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  21. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  22. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  23. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  24. A ________________ is just a dried plum.

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

Answer key

  1. prune — to trim
  2. hand — help
  3. bat — in an idiom
  4. spell — a short time
  5. cap — a hat
  6. toast — a drink to someone
  7. field — a subject
  8. spell — magic
  9. toast — the most admired
  10. toast — bread
  11. prune — to trim
  12. wind — to turn a key
  13. field — for sport
  14. hand — in cards
  15. cap — of ice
  16. field — farmland
  17. spell — letters
  18. wind — moving air
  19. hand — part of the body
  20. bat — for baseball
  21. wind — moving air
  22. cap — a lid
  23. bat — the animal
  24. prune — the fruit

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