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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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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: mate · file · field · band · prune · pit · deal · cold

  1. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  2. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  3. Have you found your soul ________________?
  4. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  5. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  6. The water is too ________________.
  7. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  8. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  9. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  10. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  11. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  12. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  13. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  14. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  15. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  16. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  17. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  18. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  19. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  20. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  21. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  22. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  23. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  24. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.

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

Answer key

  1. field — for sport
  2. prune — to trim
  3. mate — a partner
  4. field — a subject
  5. cold — the Cold War
  6. cold — not warm
  7. cold — an illness
  8. deal — a big deal
  9. file — a document
  10. pit — a fruit stone
  11. prune — the fruit
  12. band — a music group
  13. deal — to handle
  14. file — a tool
  15. file — a line of people
  16. band — a ring
  17. band — a rubber band
  18. pit — a hole
  19. field — farmland
  20. mate — a friend
  21. deal — an agreement
  22. mate — to breed
  23. prune — to trim
  24. pit — in a race

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