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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. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  2. We're almost out of ________________.
  3. I'll be taking the ________________.
  4. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  5. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  6. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  7. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  8. You don't need to ________________ round.
  9. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  10. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  11. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  12. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  13. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  14. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  15. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  16. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  17. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  18. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  19. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  20. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  21. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  22. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  23. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  24. A ________________ is just a dried plum.

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

Answer key

  1. prune — to trim
  2. pop — soda
  3. tube — the underground
  4. tube — in a tire
  5. bore — gave birth
  6. straw — dry grass
  7. pit — in a race
  8. pop — to visit
  9. bore — to tire
  10. bore — to drill
  11. straw — a straw man
  12. wake — before a funeral
  13. wake — to stop sleeping
  14. pit — a hole
  15. wake — a trail
  16. kid — to tease
  17. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  18. pit — a fruit stone
  19. prune — to trim
  20. pop — music
  21. tube — a container
  22. kid — child
  23. straw — to clutch at straws
  24. prune — the fruit

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