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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 120 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 was blown up by a land ________________.
  2. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  3. She's very handy with a ________________.
  4. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  5. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  6. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  7. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  8. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  9. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  10. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  11. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  12. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  13. Have you met the new head ________________?
  14. He works in a ________________ mill.
  15. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  16. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  17. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  18. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  19. David sat on the ________________.
  20. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  21. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  22. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  23. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  24. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — an explosive
  2. bore — to tire
  3. saw — the tool
  4. swing — in golf
  5. prune — to trim
  6. coach — a trainer
  7. kid — child
  8. mine — belonging to me
  9. stem — of a plant
  10. stem — a stem cell
  11. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  12. prune — to trim
  13. coach — a trainer
  14. saw — the tool
  15. kid — to tease
  16. mine — for digging
  17. bore — gave birth
  18. stem — to come from
  19. swing — to play on
  20. coach — pulled by horses
  21. bore — to drill
  22. prune — the fruit
  23. saw — past of 'see'
  24. swing — music

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