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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. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  2. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  3. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  4. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  5. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  6. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  7. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  8. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  9. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  10. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  11. There's no middle ________________.
  12. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  13. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  14. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  15. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  16. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  17. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  18. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  19. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  20. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  21. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  22. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  23. That was ________________ to happen.
  24. The ball is in your ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  2. kid — child
  3. pit — a hole
  4. kid — to tease
  5. prune — the fruit
  6. present — a gift
  7. pit — a fruit stone
  8. prune — to trim
  9. court — of law
  10. branch — of a tree
  11. ground — a position
  12. ground — crushed
  13. prune — to trim
  14. court — of a king
  15. ground — the earth
  16. present — the time now
  17. pit — in a race
  18. bound — tied together
  19. branch — of a bank
  20. branch — a division
  21. bound — obliged
  22. present — there
  23. bound — certain
  24. court — for sport

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