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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: fan · field · prune · season · plane · straw · race · scale

  1. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  2. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  3. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  4. The ________________ took off on time.
  5. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  6. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  7. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  8. Did you ________________ the meat?
  9. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  10. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  11. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  12. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  13. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  14. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  15. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  16. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  17. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  18. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  19. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  20. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  21. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  22. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  23. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  24. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. race — a contest
  2. prune — the fruit
  3. prune — to trim
  4. plane — an aircraft
  5. field — a subject
  6. season — of the year
  7. fan — a supporter
  8. season — to add flavour
  9. season — in sport
  10. field — for sport
  11. scale — size or range
  12. race — humankind
  13. fan — a supporter
  14. race — the arms race
  15. straw — to clutch at straws
  16. fan — to cool the air
  17. scale — in music
  18. plane — a tool
  19. prune — to trim
  20. field — farmland
  21. straw — dry grass
  22. scale — for weighing
  23. straw — a straw man
  24. plane — in geometry

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