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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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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: wound · degree · prune · field · cap · ball · pop · club

  1. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  2. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  3. You don't need to ________________ round.
  4. The King held a masked ________________.
  5. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  6. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  7. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  8. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  9. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  10. We're almost out of ________________.
  11. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  12. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  13. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  14. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  15. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  16. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  17. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  18. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  19. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  20. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  21. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  22. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  23. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  24. The kitten curled into a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cap — of ice
  2. pop — music
  3. pop — to visit
  4. ball — a dance
  5. degree — from a university
  6. wound — past of 'wind'
  7. cap — a hat
  8. wound — an injury
  9. ball — a great time
  10. pop — soda
  11. wound — an injury
  12. field — for sport
  13. prune — the fruit
  14. field — a subject
  15. prune — to trim
  16. club — for dancing
  17. club — a group
  18. field — farmland
  19. degree — an amount
  20. cap — a lid
  21. club — for golf
  22. prune — to trim
  23. degree — temperature
  24. ball — a round shape

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