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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: mate · mug · shower · prune · fork · field · spring · fine

  1. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  2. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  3. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  4. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  5. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  6. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  7. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  8. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  9. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  10. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  11. Where did you ________________ them?
  12. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  13. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  14. Have you found your soul ________________?
  15. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  16. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  17. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  18. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  19. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  20. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  21. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  22. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  23. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  24. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. fine — high quality
  2. prune — to trim
  3. fine — a penalty
  4. mug — a cup
  5. field — for sport
  6. shower — a meteor shower
  7. mate — a friend
  8. shower — to wash
  9. fork — in a road
  10. fork — a garden tool
  11. mug — to rob
  12. mug — a face
  13. spring — the season
  14. mate — a partner
  15. fine — all right
  16. prune — the fruit
  17. mate — to breed
  18. fork — to eat with
  19. spring — a coil
  20. prune — to trim
  21. field — a subject
  22. field — farmland
  23. shower — rain
  24. spring — of water

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