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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 muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  2. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  3. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  4. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  5. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  6. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  7. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  8. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  9. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  10. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  11. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  12. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  13. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  14. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  15. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  16. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  17. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  18. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  19. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  20. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  21. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  22. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  23. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  24. Recycle the empty soda ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. track — a path
  2. net — in sport
  3. bore — to tire
  4. bore — gave birth
  5. bowl — a football final
  6. bore — to drill
  7. prune — the fruit
  8. can — a tin
  9. prune — to trim
  10. hand — part of the body
  11. hand — in cards
  12. net — after costs
  13. prune — to trim
  14. race — the arms race
  15. net — for catching
  16. race — a contest
  17. track — to keep track
  18. bowl — to roll
  19. bowl — a dish
  20. race — humankind
  21. track — a song
  22. hand — help
  23. can — to be able to
  24. can — a tin

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