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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: wind · root · field · chest · prune · pass · toast · date

  1. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  2. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  3. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  4. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  5. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  6. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  7. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  8. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  9. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  10. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  11. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  12. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  13. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  14. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  15. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  16. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  17. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  18. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  19. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  20. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  21. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  22. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  23. Have you settled on a ________________?
  24. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.

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

Answer key

  1. wind — moving air
  2. prune — to trim
  3. root — of a plant
  4. root — the cause
  5. root — of a word
  6. toast — bread
  7. wind — moving air
  8. field — a subject
  9. field — for sport
  10. pass — to succeed
  11. prune — to trim
  12. toast — a drink to someone
  13. date — on the calendar
  14. chest — of your body
  15. chest — of your body
  16. chest — a box
  17. field — farmland
  18. wind — to turn a key
  19. prune — the fruit
  20. pass — a permit
  21. pass — to spend time
  22. date — the fruit
  23. date — on the calendar
  24. toast — the most admired

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