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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 120 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 don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  2. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  3. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  4. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  5. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  6. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  7. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  8. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  9. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  10. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  11. False peace will not ________________.
  12. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  13. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  14. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  15. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  16. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  17. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  18. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  19. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  20. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  21. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  22. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  23. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  24. He's taking a ________________ right now.

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

Answer key

  1. mouse — the animal
  2. prune — to trim
  3. mouse — for a computer
  4. bore — to drill
  5. shower — a meteor shower
  6. prune — to trim
  7. field — farmland
  8. fork — in a road
  9. mouse — the animal
  10. field — for sport
  11. last — to go on
  12. last — finally
  13. prune — the fruit
  14. vault — an arched ceiling
  15. fork — to eat with
  16. field — a subject
  17. bore — to tire
  18. fork — a garden tool
  19. vault — a safe
  20. shower — rain
  21. vault — in gymnastics
  22. bore — gave birth
  23. last — final
  24. shower — to wash

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