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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 · fall · wound · scale · field · mate · stock · club

  1. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  2. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  3. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  4. Have you found your soul ________________?
  5. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  6. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  7. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  8. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  9. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  10. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  11. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  12. The ________________ market has crashed.
  13. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  14. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  15. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  16. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  17. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  18. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  19. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  20. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  21. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  22. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  23. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  24. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.

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

Answer key

  1. club — for dancing
  2. mate — to breed
  3. stock — goods
  4. mate — a partner
  5. wound — an injury
  6. wound — past of 'wind'
  7. fall — the season
  8. prune — to trim
  9. wound — an injury
  10. mate — a friend
  11. scale — size or range
  12. stock — shares
  13. scale — in music
  14. prune — the fruit
  15. scale — for weighing
  16. club — for golf
  17. fall — to drop
  18. field — farmland
  19. fall — to drop
  20. club — a group
  21. stock — a soup base
  22. field — for sport
  23. prune — to trim
  24. field — a subject

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