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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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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: prune · hand · bore · shower · kid · mug · perch · net

  1. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  2. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  3. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  4. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  5. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  6. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  7. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  8. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  9. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  10. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  11. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  12. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  13. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  14. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  15. Where did you ________________ them?
  16. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  17. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  18. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  19. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  20. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  21. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  22. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  23. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  24. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.

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

Answer key

  1. prune — to trim
  2. mug — a face
  3. perch — for a bird
  4. bore — to drill
  5. mug — a cup
  6. hand — in cards
  7. shower — a meteor shower
  8. perch — the fish
  9. prune — to trim
  10. hand — part of the body
  11. kid — to tease
  12. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  13. net — in sport
  14. prune — the fruit
  15. mug — to rob
  16. bore — to tire
  17. shower — rain
  18. kid — child
  19. perch — for a bird
  20. net — for catching
  21. shower — to wash
  22. net — after costs
  23. hand — help
  24. bore — gave birth

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