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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. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  2. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  3. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  4. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  5. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  6. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  7. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  8. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  9. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  10. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  11. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  12. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  13. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  14. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  15. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  16. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  17. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  18. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  19. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  20. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  21. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  22. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  23. The ball is in your ________________.
  24. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.

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

Answer key

  1. prune — the fruit
  2. court — of law
  3. branch — of a bank
  4. wound — an injury
  5. row — a quarrel
  6. drill — army training
  7. bore — gave birth
  8. file — a tool
  9. bore — to tire
  10. drill — the tool
  11. branch — a division
  12. wound — an injury
  13. drill — a practice
  14. file — a line of people
  15. bore — to drill
  16. prune — to trim
  17. prune — to trim
  18. file — a document
  19. row — to paddle
  20. court — of a king
  21. wound — past of 'wind'
  22. branch — of a tree
  23. court — for sport
  24. row — a line

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