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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 120 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: craft · pitcher · field · tear · deal · content · hand · prune

  1. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  2. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  3. He is an ace ________________.
  4. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  5. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  6. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  7. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  8. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  9. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  10. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  11. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  12. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  13. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  14. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  15. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  16. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  17. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  18. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  19. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  20. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  21. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  22. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  23. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  24. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.

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

Answer key

  1. deal — an agreement
  2. deal — a big deal
  3. pitcher — in baseball
  4. prune — to trim
  5. content — the amount
  6. craft — boats
  7. content — happy
  8. tear — to rip
  9. craft — a handicraft
  10. field — farmland
  11. field — for sport
  12. deal — to handle
  13. pitcher — a jug
  14. hand — part of the body
  15. prune — to trim
  16. field — a subject
  17. content — videos and posts
  18. pitcher — a jug
  19. tear — from crying
  20. hand — help
  21. hand — in cards
  22. craft — a skill
  23. prune — the fruit
  24. tear — from crying

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