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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 · key · net · pop · last · wound · prune · hand

  1. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  2. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  3. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  4. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  5. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  6. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  7. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  8. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  9. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  10. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  11. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  12. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  13. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  14. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  15. You don't need to ________________ round.
  16. This piece is in a major ________________.
  17. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  18. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  19. False peace will not ________________.
  20. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  21. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  22. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  23. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  24. We're almost out of ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. last — final
  2. wound — an injury
  3. wound — past of 'wind'
  4. prune — to trim
  5. field — a subject
  6. key — for a lock
  7. field — for sport
  8. hand — help
  9. last — finally
  10. key — the most important part
  11. prune — to trim
  12. hand — part of the body
  13. pop — music
  14. net — in sport
  15. pop — to visit
  16. key — in music
  17. hand — in cards
  18. prune — the fruit
  19. last — to go on
  20. field — farmland
  21. net — for catching
  22. net — after costs
  23. wound — an injury
  24. pop — soda

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