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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: arm · spring · prune · cell · shower · rest · last · field

  1. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  2. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  3. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  4. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  5. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  6. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  7. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  8. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  9. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  10. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  11. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  12. He was locked up in a ________________.
  13. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  14. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  15. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  16. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  17. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  18. False peace will not ________________.
  19. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  20. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  21. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  22. My father caught me by the ________________.
  23. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  24. At ________________, we arrived at the village.

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

Answer key

  1. rest — what's left
  2. last — final
  3. field — for sport
  4. arm — part of the body
  5. prune — to trim
  6. cell — in biology
  7. spring — a coil
  8. spring — the season
  9. shower — rain
  10. arm — a part of something
  11. field — farmland
  12. cell — in a prison
  13. rest — a break
  14. rest — what's left
  15. prune — to trim
  16. shower — a meteor shower
  17. prune — the fruit
  18. last — to go on
  19. cell — a phone
  20. shower — to wash
  21. field — a subject
  22. arm — part of the body
  23. spring — of water
  24. last — finally

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