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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. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  2. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  3. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  4. The ball is in your ________________.
  5. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  6. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  7. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  8. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  9. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  10. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  11. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  12. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  13. I'll be taking the ________________.
  14. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  15. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  16. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  17. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  18. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  19. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  20. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  21. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  22. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  23. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  24. I had a ________________ with my boss today.

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

Answer key

  1. prune — to trim
  2. tube — in a tire
  3. court — of a king
  4. court — for sport
  5. prune — the fruit
  6. wake — to stop sleeping
  7. mine — for digging
  8. row — to paddle
  9. wake — before a funeral
  10. bore — to drill
  11. tube — a container
  12. mine — belonging to me
  13. tube — the underground
  14. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  15. kid — child
  16. kid — to tease
  17. prune — to trim
  18. court — of law
  19. row — a line
  20. bore — to tire
  21. bore — gave birth
  22. mine — an explosive
  23. wake — a trail
  24. row — a quarrel

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