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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: mark · wound · chest · prune · pound · field · content · can

  1. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  2. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  3. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  4. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  5. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  6. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  7. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  8. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  9. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  10. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  11. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  12. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  13. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  14. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  15. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  16. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  17. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  18. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  19. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  20. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  21. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  22. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  23. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  24. She got the top ________________ in the exam.

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

Answer key

  1. mark — a trace
  2. wound — an injury
  3. pound — for dogs
  4. chest — of your body
  5. field — for sport
  6. content — the amount
  7. field — a subject
  8. mark — to pay attention
  9. pound — to hit hard
  10. chest — a box
  11. field — farmland
  12. can — a tin
  13. can — to be able to
  14. chest — of your body
  15. content — happy
  16. wound — an injury
  17. wound — past of 'wind'
  18. prune — to trim
  19. can — a tin
  20. prune — to trim
  21. pound — a weight
  22. content — videos and posts
  23. prune — the fruit
  24. mark — a grade

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