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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: hide · fall · field · land · pit · prune · straw · tube

  1. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  2. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  3. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  4. When are we going to ________________?
  5. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  6. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  7. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  8. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  9. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  10. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  11. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  12. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  13. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  14. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  15. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  16. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  17. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  18. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  19. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  20. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  21. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  22. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  23. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  24. I'll be taking the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. tube — a container
  2. hide — to keep secret
  3. tube — in a tire
  4. land — to come down
  5. pit — a hole
  6. field — a subject
  7. land — a country
  8. straw — to clutch at straws
  9. pit — a fruit stone
  10. land — ground
  11. field — for sport
  12. prune — the fruit
  13. prune — to trim
  14. straw — a straw man
  15. prune — to trim
  16. hide — animal skin
  17. pit — in a race
  18. hide — to keep secret
  19. fall — to drop
  20. straw — dry grass
  21. field — farmland
  22. fall — the season
  23. fall — to drop
  24. tube — the underground

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