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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. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  2. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  3. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  4. The ________________ took off on time.
  5. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  6. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  7. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  8. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  9. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  10. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  11. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  12. That was a fun ________________.
  13. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  14. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  15. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  16. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  17. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  18. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  19. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  20. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  21. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  22. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  23. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  24. Have you settled on a ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. bore — to tire
  2. drill — army training
  3. date — the fruit
  4. plane — an aircraft
  5. prune — to trim
  6. plane — in geometry
  7. game — a kind of play
  8. game — wild animals
  9. chest — of your body
  10. date — on the calendar
  11. prune — the fruit
  12. game — a match
  13. chest — a box
  14. kid — to tease
  15. kid — child
  16. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  17. bore — gave birth
  18. bore — to drill
  19. plane — a tool
  20. drill — the tool
  21. prune — to trim
  22. chest — of your body
  23. drill — a practice
  24. date — on the calendar

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