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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 116 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. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  2. Did you ________________ the meat?
  3. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  4. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  5. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  6. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  7. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  8. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  9. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  10. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  11. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  12. The ball is in your ________________.
  13. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  14. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  15. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  16. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  17. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  18. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  19. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  20. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  21. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  22. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  23. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  24. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?

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

Answer key

  1. wake — before a funeral
  2. season — to add flavour
  3. vault — a safe
  4. vault — an arched ceiling
  5. prune — the fruit
  6. wake — to stop sleeping
  7. straw — a straw man
  8. prune — to trim
  9. straw — dry grass
  10. court — of a king
  11. season — of the year
  12. court — for sport
  13. field — for sport
  14. bore — gave birth
  15. field — a subject
  16. prune — to trim
  17. field — farmland
  18. court — of law
  19. wake — a trail
  20. bore — to drill
  21. vault — in gymnastics
  22. straw — to clutch at straws
  23. season — in sport
  24. bore — to tire

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