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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. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  2. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  3. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  4. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  5. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  6. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  7. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  8. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  9. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  10. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  11. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  12. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  13. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  14. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  15. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  16. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  17. The ball is in your ________________.
  18. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  19. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  20. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  21. That was a fun ________________.
  22. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  23. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  24. I got dealt a bad ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. game — a kind of play
  2. prune — to trim
  3. prune — the fruit
  4. court — of law
  5. cap — a lid
  6. hand — help
  7. court — of a king
  8. drill — a practice
  9. cue — for pool
  10. bore — gave birth
  11. drill — army training
  12. bore — to tire
  13. drill — the tool
  14. prune — to trim
  15. bore — to drill
  16. hand — part of the body
  17. court — for sport
  18. game — wild animals
  19. cue — a hint
  20. cap — a hat
  21. game — a match
  22. cue — a signal
  23. cap — of ice
  24. hand — in cards

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