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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: row · wake · prune · band · craft · content · field · key

  1. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  2. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  3. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  4. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  5. This piece is in a major ________________.
  6. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  7. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  8. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  9. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  10. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  11. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  12. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  13. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  14. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  15. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  16. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  17. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  18. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  19. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  20. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  21. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  22. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  23. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  24. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. content — happy
  2. wake — to stop sleeping
  3. key — for a lock
  4. content — videos and posts
  5. key — in music
  6. row — to paddle
  7. prune — to trim
  8. row — a quarrel
  9. prune — the fruit
  10. wake — before a funeral
  11. content — the amount
  12. band — a rubber band
  13. row — a line
  14. field — farmland
  15. craft — a handicraft
  16. field — a subject
  17. band — a music group
  18. craft — boats
  19. field — for sport
  20. wake — a trail
  21. craft — a skill
  22. key — the most important part
  23. prune — to trim
  24. band — a ring

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