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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: net · wake · scale · field · degree · prune · bore · content

  1. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  2. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  3. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  4. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  5. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  6. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  7. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  8. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  9. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  10. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  11. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  12. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  13. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  14. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  15. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  16. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  17. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  18. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  19. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  20. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  21. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  22. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  23. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  24. A ________________ is just a dried plum.

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

Answer key

  1. content — videos and posts
  2. degree — an amount
  3. net — in sport
  4. content — the amount
  5. content — happy
  6. field — for sport
  7. prune — to trim
  8. scale — in music
  9. scale — for weighing
  10. net — after costs
  11. wake — to stop sleeping
  12. prune — to trim
  13. degree — from a university
  14. degree — temperature
  15. scale — size or range
  16. bore — to drill
  17. wake — a trail
  18. field — a subject
  19. bore — to tire
  20. bore — gave birth
  21. wake — before a funeral
  22. field — farmland
  23. net — for catching
  24. prune — the fruit

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