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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: court · tube · bark · scale · kid · swing · prune · safe

  1. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  2. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  3. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  4. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  5. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  6. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  7. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  8. David sat on the ________________.
  9. The ball is in your ________________.
  10. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  11. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  12. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  13. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  14. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  15. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  16. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  17. I'll be taking the ________________.
  18. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  19. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  20. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  21. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  22. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  23. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  24. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.

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

Answer key

  1. safe — out of danger
  2. tube — a container
  3. bark — of a tree
  4. scale — size or range
  5. tube — in a tire
  6. kid — to tease
  7. bark — a dog's sound
  8. swing — to play on
  9. court — for sport
  10. kid — child
  11. prune — to trim
  12. bark — to shout
  13. prune — the fruit
  14. swing — music
  15. prune — to trim
  16. scale — for weighing
  17. tube — the underground
  18. court — of law
  19. swing — in golf
  20. safe — a strongbox
  21. court — of a king
  22. safe — out of danger
  23. scale — in music
  24. kid — young goat (kid gloves)

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