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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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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: game · safe · mug · bore · field · cold · land · prune

  1. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  2. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  3. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  4. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  5. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  6. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  7. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  8. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  9. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  10. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  11. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  12. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  13. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  14. The water is too ________________.
  15. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  16. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  17. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  18. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  19. That was a fun ________________.
  20. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  21. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  22. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  23. When are we going to ________________?
  24. Where did you ________________ them?

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

Answer key

  1. game — wild animals
  2. field — for sport
  3. field — farmland
  4. land — a country
  5. mug — a face
  6. land — ground
  7. field — a subject
  8. game — a kind of play
  9. prune — the fruit
  10. bore — gave birth
  11. safe — a strongbox
  12. prune — to trim
  13. cold — the Cold War
  14. cold — not warm
  15. safe — out of danger
  16. prune — to trim
  17. cold — an illness
  18. bore — to drill
  19. game — a match
  20. safe — out of danger
  21. mug — a cup
  22. bore — to tire
  23. land — to come down
  24. mug — to rob

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