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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 120 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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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: cell · dip · straw · field · bore · pit · capital · prune

  1. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  2. He was locked up in a ________________.
  3. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  4. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  5. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  6. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  7. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  8. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  9. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  10. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  11. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  12. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  13. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  14. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  15. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  16. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  17. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  18. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  19. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  20. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  21. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  22. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  23. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  24. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!

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

Answer key

  1. field — for sport
  2. cell — in a prison
  3. pit — a fruit stone
  4. straw — to clutch at straws
  5. dip — a sauce
  6. capital — a city
  7. straw — dry grass
  8. prune — to trim
  9. straw — a straw man
  10. bore — to tire
  11. pit — in a race
  12. field — a subject
  13. field — farmland
  14. dip — to dunk
  15. cell — in biology
  16. prune — to trim
  17. bore — to drill
  18. capital — money
  19. bore — gave birth
  20. capital — a big letter
  21. pit — a hole
  22. dip — to sink
  23. prune — the fruit
  24. cell — a phone

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