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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: craft · bat · field · capital · prune · fall · kid · pass

  1. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  2. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  3. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  4. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  5. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  6. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  7. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  8. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  9. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  10. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  11. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  12. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  13. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  14. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  15. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  16. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  17. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  18. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  19. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  20. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  21. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  22. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  23. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  24. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. prune — to trim
  2. prune — the fruit
  3. bat — in an idiom
  4. capital — a big letter
  5. kid — to tease
  6. bat — for baseball
  7. fall — to drop
  8. pass — to succeed
  9. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  10. craft — boats
  11. field — for sport
  12. capital — money
  13. fall — to drop
  14. craft — a skill
  15. pass — to spend time
  16. capital — a city
  17. field — a subject
  18. craft — a handicraft
  19. kid — child
  20. bat — the animal
  21. fall — the season
  22. pass — a permit
  23. prune — to trim
  24. field — farmland

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