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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: fan · bore · cold · prune · row · stick · field · last

  1. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  2. The water is too ________________.
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  5. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  6. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  7. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  8. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  9. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  10. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  11. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  12. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  13. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  14. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  15. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  16. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  17. False peace will not ________________.
  18. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  19. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  20. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  21. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  22. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  23. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  24. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?

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

Answer key

  1. prune — to trim
  2. cold — not warm
  3. cold — an illness
  4. stick — to attach or keep to
  5. row — to paddle
  6. field — farmland
  7. field — for sport
  8. field — a subject
  9. stick — a piece of wood
  10. bore — to drill
  11. cold — the Cold War
  12. fan — a supporter
  13. last — final
  14. stick — a piece of wood
  15. fan — to cool the air
  16. bore — gave birth
  17. last — to go on
  18. last — finally
  19. bore — to tire
  20. prune — the fruit
  21. row — a quarrel
  22. row — a line
  23. prune — to trim
  24. fan — a supporter

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