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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. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  2. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  3. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  4. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  5. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  6. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  7. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  8. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  9. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  10. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  11. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  12. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  13. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  14. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  15. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  16. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  17. False peace will not ________________.
  18. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  19. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  20. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  21. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  22. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  23. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  24. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. lie — to recline
  2. field — farmland
  3. kid — to tease
  4. last — finally
  5. prune — to trim
  6. bore — gave birth
  7. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  8. bat — in an idiom
  9. prune — to trim
  10. vault — in gymnastics
  11. prune — the fruit
  12. bore — to drill
  13. last — final
  14. lie — an untruth
  15. vault — an arched ceiling
  16. vault — a safe
  17. last — to go on
  18. kid — child
  19. bat — for baseball
  20. field — for sport
  21. field — a subject
  22. bat — the animal
  23. bore — to tire
  24. lie — an untruth

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