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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: saw · prune · kick · key · cell · bank · field · rest

  1. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  2. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  3. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  4. This piece is in a major ________________.
  5. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  6. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  7. He works in a ________________ mill.
  8. She's very handy with a ________________.
  9. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  10. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  11. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  12. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  13. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  14. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  15. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  16. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  17. He was locked up in a ________________.
  18. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  19. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  20. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  21. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  22. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  23. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  24. A ________________ is just a dried plum.

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

Answer key

  1. key — the most important part
  2. rest — a break
  3. field — farmland
  4. key — in music
  5. field — a subject
  6. field — for sport
  7. saw — the tool
  8. saw — the tool
  9. bank — for money
  10. saw — past of 'see'
  11. prune — to trim
  12. rest — what's left
  13. key — for a lock
  14. cell — a phone
  15. bank — for money
  16. rest — what's left
  17. cell — in a prison
  18. kick — with a leg
  19. kick — a thrill
  20. bank — of a river
  21. kick — in football
  22. cell — in biology
  23. prune — to trim
  24. prune — the fruit

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