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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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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 · saw · tear · capital · band · snap · object · prune

  1. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  2. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  3. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  4. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  5. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  6. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  7. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  8. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  9. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  10. He works in a ________________ mill.
  11. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  12. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  13. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  14. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  15. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  16. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  17. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  18. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  19. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  20. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  21. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  22. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  23. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  24. She's very handy with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a music group
  2. object — an aim
  3. prune — to trim
  4. prune — to trim
  5. tear — to rip
  6. snap — to click
  7. field — for sport
  8. field — farmland
  9. saw — past of 'see'
  10. saw — the tool
  11. capital — money
  12. snap — to speak sharply
  13. capital — a big letter
  14. tear — from crying
  15. tear — from crying
  16. band — a rubber band
  17. prune — the fruit
  18. field — a subject
  19. object — a thing
  20. capital — a city
  21. snap — to snap out of it
  22. object — to protest
  23. band — a ring
  24. saw — the tool

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