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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. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  2. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  3. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  4. Have you met the new head ________________?
  5. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  6. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  7. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  8. Did you ________________ the meat?
  9. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  10. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  11. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  12. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  13. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  14. That was a fun ________________.
  15. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  16. I can't ________________ this cold.
  17. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  18. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  19. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  20. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  21. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  22. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  23. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  24. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bore — gave birth
  2. coach — a trainer
  3. coach — pulled by horses
  4. coach — a trainer
  5. prune — to trim
  6. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  7. bore — to drill
  8. season — to add flavour
  9. clip — for paper
  10. clip — to cut
  11. prune — the fruit
  12. season — of the year
  13. season — in sport
  14. game — a match
  15. kid — child
  16. stand — to bear
  17. game — a kind of play
  18. prune — to trim
  19. stand — for spectators
  20. stand — on your feet
  21. kid — to tease
  22. bore — to tire
  23. clip — a video
  24. game — wild animals

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