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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.

Words on the sheet
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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: trunk · saw · prune · cold · patient · field · degree · dip

  1. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  2. He works in a ________________ mill.
  3. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  4. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  5. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  6. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  7. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  8. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  9. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  10. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  11. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  12. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  13. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  14. She's very handy with a ________________.
  15. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  16. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  17. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  18. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  19. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  20. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  21. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  22. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  23. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  24. The water is too ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — an illness
  2. saw — the tool
  3. dip — to sink
  4. degree — an amount
  5. prune — the fruit
  6. trunk — of a car
  7. prune — to trim
  8. cold — the Cold War
  9. patient — a sick person
  10. field — farmland
  11. saw — past of 'see'
  12. patient — a sick person
  13. field — a subject
  14. saw — the tool
  15. dip — to dunk
  16. trunk — of a tree
  17. patient — calm and waiting
  18. degree — temperature
  19. prune — to trim
  20. dip — a sauce
  21. trunk — of an elephant
  22. field — for sport
  23. degree — from a university
  24. cold — not warm

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