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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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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: dip · hand · foot · field · tear · key · prune · pound

  1. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  2. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  3. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  4. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  5. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  6. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  7. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  8. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  9. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  10. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  11. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  12. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  13. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  14. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  15. This piece is in a major ________________.
  16. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  17. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  18. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  19. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  20. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  21. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  22. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  23. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  24. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?

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

Answer key

  1. field — for sport
  2. pound — for dogs
  3. prune — to trim
  4. dip — a sauce
  5. hand — help
  6. hand — part of the body
  7. foot — part of the body
  8. key — the most important part
  9. dip — to dunk
  10. pound — a weight
  11. tear — from crying
  12. tear — to rip
  13. foot — the bottom
  14. field — farmland
  15. key — in music
  16. foot — a measure
  17. prune — to trim
  18. tear — from crying
  19. dip — to sink
  20. pound — to hit hard
  21. field — a subject
  22. prune — the fruit
  23. hand — in cards
  24. key — for a lock

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