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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: field · saw · prune · pop · spring · land · last · arm

  1. We're almost out of ________________.
  2. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  3. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  4. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  5. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  6. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  7. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  8. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  9. False peace will not ________________.
  10. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  11. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  12. My father caught me by the ________________.
  13. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  14. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  15. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  16. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  17. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  18. He works in a ________________ mill.
  19. She's very handy with a ________________.
  20. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  21. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  22. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  23. You don't need to ________________ round.
  24. When are we going to ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. pop — soda
  2. spring — a coil
  3. field — a subject
  4. prune — to trim
  5. last — final
  6. spring — of water
  7. field — farmland
  8. land — ground
  9. last — to go on
  10. arm — part of the body
  11. field — for sport
  12. arm — part of the body
  13. prune — to trim
  14. saw — past of 'see'
  15. spring — the season
  16. arm — a part of something
  17. last — finally
  18. saw — the tool
  19. saw — the tool
  20. pop — music
  21. prune — the fruit
  22. land — a country
  23. pop — to visit
  24. land — to come down

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