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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: band · content · patient · field · lash · prune · wound · pitch

  1. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  2. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  3. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  4. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  5. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  6. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  7. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  8. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  9. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  10. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  11. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  12. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  13. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  14. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  15. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  16. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  17. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  18. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  19. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  20. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  21. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  22. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  23. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  24. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. prune — to trim
  2. band — a music group
  3. wound — past of 'wind'
  4. lash — to lash out
  5. pitch — a sports field
  6. band — a ring
  7. patient — calm and waiting
  8. lash — an eyelash
  9. content — the amount
  10. field — a subject
  11. wound — an injury
  12. band — a rubber band
  13. prune — the fruit
  14. patient — a sick person
  15. field — for sport
  16. wound — an injury
  17. content — happy
  18. lash — a whip stroke
  19. pitch — completely
  20. pitch — a sales talk
  21. field — farmland
  22. prune — to trim
  23. content — videos and posts
  24. patient — a sick person

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