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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: prune · bulb · field · kick · band · game · spell · date

  1. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  2. How do you ________________ your surname?
  3. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  4. That was a fun ________________.
  5. The light ________________ burned out.
  6. I've got to change the light ________________.
  7. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  8. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  9. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  10. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  11. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  12. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  13. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  14. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  15. Have you settled on a ________________?
  16. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  17. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  18. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  19. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  20. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  21. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  22. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  23. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  24. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. field — for sport
  2. spell — letters
  3. kick — with a leg
  4. game — a match
  5. bulb — for light
  6. bulb — for light
  7. prune — to trim
  8. kick — in football
  9. field — a subject
  10. band — a rubber band
  11. field — farmland
  12. band — a music group
  13. bulb — of a plant
  14. game — a kind of play
  15. date — on the calendar
  16. kick — a thrill
  17. date — on the calendar
  18. spell — a short time
  19. prune — the fruit
  20. date — the fruit
  21. prune — to trim
  22. band — a ring
  23. game — wild animals
  24. spell — magic

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