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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: rest · ground · field · prune · sharp · rash · wind · spell

  1. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  2. Don't do anything ________________.
  3. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  4. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  5. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  6. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  7. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  8. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  9. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  10. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  11. There's no middle ________________.
  12. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  13. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  14. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  15. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  16. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  17. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  18. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  19. It's one o'clock ________________.
  20. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  21. How do you ________________ your surname?
  22. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  23. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  24. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.

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

Answer key

  1. prune — to trim
  2. rash — hasty
  3. ground — the earth
  4. spell — a short time
  5. wind — moving air
  6. rest — what's left
  7. sharp — with an edge
  8. rest — a break
  9. rash — a series
  10. field — for sport
  11. ground — a position
  12. field — a subject
  13. rash — on the skin
  14. rest — what's left
  15. ground — crushed
  16. sharp — clever
  17. prune — to trim
  18. field — farmland
  19. sharp — exactly
  20. prune — the fruit
  21. spell — letters
  22. spell — magic
  23. wind — moving air
  24. wind — to turn a key

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