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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: prune · foot · pitcher · field · cold · leaves · pop · lean

  1. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  2. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  3. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  4. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  5. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  6. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  7. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  8. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  9. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  10. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  11. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  12. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  13. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  14. He is an ace ________________.
  15. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  16. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  17. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  18. The water is too ________________.
  19. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  20. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  21. You don't need to ________________ round.
  22. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  23. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  24. We're almost out of ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. lean — thin
  2. prune — to trim
  3. cold — the Cold War
  4. field — farmland
  5. pitcher — a jug
  6. field — for sport
  7. prune — to trim
  8. cold — an illness
  9. pop — music
  10. foot — the bottom
  11. leaves — lets stay
  12. lean — to bend
  13. leaves — to go away
  14. pitcher — in baseball
  15. field — a subject
  16. pitcher — a jug
  17. foot — a measure
  18. cold — not warm
  19. prune — the fruit
  20. lean — to rest against
  21. pop — to visit
  22. leaves — of a tree
  23. foot — part of the body
  24. pop — soda

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