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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. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  2. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  3. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  4. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  5. The water is too ________________.
  6. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  7. The ball is in your ________________.
  8. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  9. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  10. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  11. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  12. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  13. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  14. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  15. I'll be taking the ________________.
  16. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  17. I've got to change the light ________________.
  18. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  19. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  20. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  21. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  22. The light ________________ burned out.
  23. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  24. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — an explosive
  2. prune — to trim
  3. prune — to trim
  4. cold — an illness
  5. cold — not warm
  6. kid — to tease
  7. court — for sport
  8. prune — the fruit
  9. mine — belonging to me
  10. mine — for digging
  11. court — of a king
  12. board — to get on
  13. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  14. cold — the Cold War
  15. tube — the underground
  16. kid — child
  17. bulb — for light
  18. tube — a container
  19. bulb — of a plant
  20. tube — in a tire
  21. board — a committee
  22. bulb — for light
  23. board — a flat piece
  24. court — of law

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