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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 ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  2. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  3. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  4. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  5. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  6. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  7. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  8. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  9. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  10. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  11. Have you met the new head ________________?
  12. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  13. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  14. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  15. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  16. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  17. The ball is in your ________________.
  18. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  19. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  20. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  21. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  22. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  23. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  24. When are we going to ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. court — of law
  2. prune — the fruit
  3. bore — to tire
  4. bore — gave birth
  5. land — ground
  6. court — of a king
  7. fall — to drop
  8. bore — to drill
  9. pound — for dogs
  10. coach — pulled by horses
  11. coach — a trainer
  12. prune — to trim
  13. wake — to stop sleeping
  14. prune — to trim
  15. coach — a trainer
  16. pound — a weight
  17. court — for sport
  18. pound — to hit hard
  19. wake — before a funeral
  20. fall — to drop
  21. land — a country
  22. fall — the season
  23. wake — a trail
  24. land — to come down

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