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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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Word bank
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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: cue · content · bore · land · prune · tear

  1. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  2. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  3. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  4. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  5. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  6. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  7. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  8. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  9. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  10. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  11. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  12. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  13. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  14. When are we going to ________________?
  15. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  16. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  17. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  18. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.

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

Answer key

  1. content — happy
  2. bore — gave birth
  3. land — ground
  4. bore — to tire
  5. tear — from crying
  6. content — videos and posts
  7. tear — from crying
  8. cue — for pool
  9. content — the amount
  10. cue — a hint
  11. tear — to rip
  12. cue — a signal
  13. prune — to trim
  14. land — to come down
  15. land — a country
  16. prune — the fruit
  17. bore — to drill
  18. prune — to trim

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