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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 in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. He is an ace ________________.
  2. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  3. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  4. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  5. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  6. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  7. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  8. When are we going to ________________?
  9. The ball is in your ________________.
  10. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  11. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  12. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  13. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  14. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  15. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  16. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  17. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  18. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  19. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  20. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  21. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  22. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  23. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  24. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.

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

Answer key

  1. pitcher — in baseball
  2. prune — to trim
  3. mine — an explosive
  4. prune — the fruit
  5. degree — an amount
  6. prune — to trim
  7. land — a country
  8. land — to come down
  9. court — for sport
  10. bore — gave birth
  11. pitcher — a jug
  12. bore — to tire
  13. land — ground
  14. pitcher — a jug
  15. perch — for a bird
  16. perch — for a bird
  17. perch — the fish
  18. mine — for digging
  19. degree — temperature
  20. mine — belonging to me
  21. degree — from a university
  22. court — of law
  23. court — of a king
  24. bore — to drill

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