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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: kid · prune · safe · field · straw · wound · band · sharp

  1. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  2. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  3. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  4. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  5. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  6. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  7. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  8. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  9. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  10. It's one o'clock ________________.
  11. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  12. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  13. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  14. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  15. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  16. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  17. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  18. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  19. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  20. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  21. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  22. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  23. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  24. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. field — for sport
  2. kid — to tease
  3. prune — the fruit
  4. straw — a straw man
  5. safe — out of danger
  6. band — a music group
  7. prune — to trim
  8. wound — past of 'wind'
  9. prune — to trim
  10. sharp — exactly
  11. band — a ring
  12. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  13. sharp — with an edge
  14. sharp — clever
  15. kid — child
  16. field — farmland
  17. safe — out of danger
  18. safe — a strongbox
  19. straw — to clutch at straws
  20. band — a rubber band
  21. wound — an injury
  22. field — a subject
  23. wound — an injury
  24. straw — dry grass

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