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

Word bank: prune · bore · snap · tube · capital · tear · bulb · cell

  1. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  2. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  3. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  4. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  5. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  6. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  7. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  8. I'll be taking the ________________.
  9. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  10. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  11. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  12. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  13. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  14. He was locked up in a ________________.
  15. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  16. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  17. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  18. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  19. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  20. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  21. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  22. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  23. I've got to change the light ________________.
  24. The light ________________ burned out.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — from crying
  2. snap — to click
  3. tube — a container
  4. bulb — of a plant
  5. capital — money
  6. snap — to speak sharply
  7. snap — to snap out of it
  8. tube — the underground
  9. bore — to drill
  10. prune — to trim
  11. tube — in a tire
  12. cell — in biology
  13. capital — a big letter
  14. cell — in a prison
  15. tear — from crying
  16. cell — a phone
  17. tear — to rip
  18. capital — a city
  19. bore — to tire
  20. prune — to trim
  21. prune — the fruit
  22. bore — gave birth
  23. bulb — for light
  24. bulb — for light

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