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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 116 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: swing · mouse · stock · cold · bat · field · prune · bore

  1. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  2. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  3. The water is too ________________.
  4. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  5. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  6. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  7. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  8. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  9. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  10. The ________________ market has crashed.
  11. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  12. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  13. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  14. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  15. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  16. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  17. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  18. David sat on the ________________.
  19. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  20. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  21. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  22. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  23. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  24. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.

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

Answer key

  1. prune — to trim
  2. bat — in an idiom
  3. cold — not warm
  4. cold — the Cold War
  5. bore — to tire
  6. bore — to drill
  7. field — farmland
  8. swing — in golf
  9. field — for sport
  10. stock — shares
  11. prune — to trim
  12. mouse — the animal
  13. bat — the animal
  14. field — a subject
  15. bore — gave birth
  16. stock — goods
  17. cold — an illness
  18. swing — to play on
  19. stock — a soup base
  20. bat — for baseball
  21. mouse — for a computer
  22. mouse — the animal
  23. prune — the fruit
  24. swing — music

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