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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: ruler · pitcher · clip · cold · lash · bear · prune · bore

  1. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  2. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  3. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  4. The water is too ________________.
  5. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  6. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  7. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  8. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  9. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  10. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  11. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  12. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  13. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  14. He is an ace ________________.
  15. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  16. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  17. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  18. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  19. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  20. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  21. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  22. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  23. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  24. A black ________________ roamed the forest.

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

Answer key

  1. bore — to drill
  2. cold — an illness
  3. bear — to put up with
  4. cold — not warm
  5. prune — to trim
  6. clip — a video
  7. ruler — a monarch
  8. bore — to tire
  9. lash — an eyelash
  10. pitcher — a jug
  11. cold — the Cold War
  12. pitcher — a jug
  13. prune — to trim
  14. pitcher — in baseball
  15. bear — the animal
  16. clip — for paper
  17. lash — to lash out
  18. bore — gave birth
  19. ruler — for measuring
  20. clip — to cut
  21. lash — a whip stroke
  22. ruler — for measuring
  23. prune — the fruit
  24. bear — the animal

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