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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. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  2. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  3. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  4. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  5. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  6. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  7. The ball is in your ________________.
  8. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  9. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  10. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  11. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  12. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  13. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  14. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  15. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  16. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  17. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  18. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  19. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  20. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  21. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  22. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  23. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  24. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.

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

Answer key

  1. prune — to trim
  2. field — for sport
  3. bore — to tire
  4. foot — part of the body
  5. drill — army training
  6. foot — a measure
  7. court — for sport
  8. prune — the fruit
  9. drill — the tool
  10. march — the month
  11. bore — to drill
  12. kid — child
  13. field — a subject
  14. kid — to tease
  15. march — the month
  16. march — music
  17. prune — to trim
  18. field — farmland
  19. drill — a practice
  20. foot — the bottom
  21. court — of a king
  22. court — of law
  23. bore — gave birth
  24. kid — young goat (kid gloves)

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