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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 · rock · lie · prune · tear · hand · key · race

  1. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  2. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  3. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  4. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  5. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  6. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  7. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  8. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  9. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  10. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  11. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  12. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  13. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  14. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  15. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  16. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  17. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  18. This piece is in a major ________________.
  19. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  20. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  21. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  22. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  23. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  24. We were using a ________________ as a seat.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — help
  2. prune — the fruit
  3. rock — to move gently
  4. rock — music
  5. field — a subject
  6. race — humankind
  7. tear — from crying
  8. lie — to recline
  9. key — the most important part
  10. field — for sport
  11. lie — an untruth
  12. field — farmland
  13. tear — to rip
  14. prune — to trim
  15. lie — an untruth
  16. key — for a lock
  17. hand — part of the body
  18. key — in music
  19. tear — from crying
  20. prune — to trim
  21. race — the arms race
  22. race — a contest
  23. hand — in cards
  24. rock — a stone

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