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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: cold · mate · prune · bore · wound · can · temple · court

  1. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  2. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  3. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  4. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  5. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  6. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  7. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  8. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  9. The water is too ________________.
  10. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  11. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  12. The ball is in your ________________.
  13. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  14. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  15. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  16. Have you found your soul ________________?
  17. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  18. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  19. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  20. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  21. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  22. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  23. When was this ________________ built?
  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. cold — an illness
  3. temple — a place of worship
  4. mate — a friend
  5. wound — an injury
  6. wound — an injury
  7. cold — the Cold War
  8. court — of law
  9. cold — not warm
  10. temple — side of the head
  11. court — of a king
  12. court — for sport
  13. bore — to tire
  14. mate — to breed
  15. wound — past of 'wind'
  16. mate — a partner
  17. prune — to trim
  18. can — a tin
  19. can — a tin
  20. can — to be able to
  21. bore — to drill
  22. prune — the fruit
  23. temple — a place of worship
  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