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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: bore · roll · prune · pitcher · pop · cell · present · content

  1. You don't need to ________________ round.
  2. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  3. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  4. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  5. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  6. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  7. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  8. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  9. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  10. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  11. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  12. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  13. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  14. He is an ace ________________.
  15. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  16. We're almost out of ________________.
  17. We're on a ________________ here.
  18. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  19. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  20. He was locked up in a ________________.
  21. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  22. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  23. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  24. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.

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

Answer key

  1. pop — to visit
  2. present — a gift
  3. content — videos and posts
  4. prune — to trim
  5. roll — a cake
  6. bore — to tire
  7. pitcher — a jug
  8. bore — to drill
  9. roll — a list
  10. prune — to trim
  11. prune — the fruit
  12. cell — in biology
  13. pop — music
  14. pitcher — in baseball
  15. content — the amount
  16. pop — soda
  17. roll — on a roll
  18. present — there
  19. content — happy
  20. cell — in a prison
  21. cell — a phone
  22. bore — gave birth
  23. present — the time now
  24. pitcher — a jug

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