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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.

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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: prune · tear · ruler · cell · squash · kid · field · chip

  1. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  2. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  3. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  4. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  5. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  6. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  7. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  8. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  9. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  10. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  11. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  12. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  13. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  14. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  15. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  16. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  17. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  18. He was locked up in a ________________.
  19. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  20. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  21. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  22. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  23. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  24. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — from crying
  2. tear — to rip
  3. kid — child
  4. squash — the vegetable
  5. tear — from crying
  6. field — for sport
  7. chip — for betting
  8. kid — to tease
  9. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  10. prune — to trim
  11. squash — to crush
  12. chip — in a computer
  13. squash — the sport
  14. cell — in biology
  15. prune — to trim
  16. ruler — for measuring
  17. chip — to eat
  18. cell — in a prison
  19. ruler — a monarch
  20. prune — the fruit
  21. ruler — for measuring
  22. field — farmland
  23. cell — a phone
  24. field — a subject

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