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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 · wind · pop · spell · cap · field · ball · can

  1. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  2. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  3. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  4. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  5. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  6. You don't need to ________________ round.
  7. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  8. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  9. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  10. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  11. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  12. We're almost out of ________________.
  13. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  14. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  15. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  16. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  17. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  18. The King held a masked ________________.
  19. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  20. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  21. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  22. How do you ________________ your surname?
  23. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  24. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?

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

Answer key

  1. field — a subject
  2. prune — the fruit
  3. can — a tin
  4. cap — a hat
  5. can — a tin
  6. pop — to visit
  7. prune — to trim
  8. wind — moving air
  9. ball — a great time
  10. spell — magic
  11. cap — of ice
  12. pop — soda
  13. ball — a round shape
  14. field — for sport
  15. can — to be able to
  16. spell — a short time
  17. pop — music
  18. ball — a dance
  19. prune — to trim
  20. wind — moving air
  21. wind — to turn a key
  22. spell — letters
  23. field — farmland
  24. cap — a lid

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