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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. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  2. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  3. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  4. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  5. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  6. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  7. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  8. That was a fun ________________.
  9. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  10. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  11. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  12. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  13. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  14. The water is too ________________.
  15. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  16. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  17. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  18. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  19. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  20. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  21. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  22. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  23. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  24. Have you met the new head ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. prune — to trim
  2. band — a rubber band
  3. snap — to speak sharply
  4. band — a music group
  5. bore — to tire
  6. prune — to trim
  7. game — wild animals
  8. game — a match
  9. cap — of ice
  10. bore — gave birth
  11. prune — the fruit
  12. cap — a lid
  13. bore — to drill
  14. cold — not warm
  15. snap — to click
  16. coach — pulled by horses
  17. cold — the Cold War
  18. cold — an illness
  19. snap — to snap out of it
  20. cap — a hat
  21. game — a kind of play
  22. coach — a trainer
  23. band — a ring
  24. coach — a trainer

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