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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. I'll be taking the ________________.
  2. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  3. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  4. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  5. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  6. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  7. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  8. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  9. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  10. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  11. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  12. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  13. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  14. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  15. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  16. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  17. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  18. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  19. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  20. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  21. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  22. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  23. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  24. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.

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

Answer key

  1. tube — the underground
  2. chest — of your body
  3. prune — to trim
  4. board — a committee
  5. prune — to trim
  6. chest — of your body
  7. prune — the fruit
  8. board — to get on
  9. perch — for a bird
  10. bore — to tire
  11. tube — in a tire
  12. foot — part of the body
  13. kid — child
  14. chest — a box
  15. kid — to tease
  16. bore — gave birth
  17. bore — to drill
  18. board — a flat piece
  19. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  20. perch — the fish
  21. foot — a measure
  22. tube — a container
  23. perch — for a bird
  24. foot — the bottom

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