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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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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: bowl · pit · plane · bat · pop · lie · prune · kid

  1. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  2. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  3. You don't need to ________________ round.
  4. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  5. We're almost out of ________________.
  6. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  7. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  8. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  9. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  10. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  11. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  12. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  13. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  14. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  15. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  16. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  17. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  18. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  19. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  20. The ________________ took off on time.
  21. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  22. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  23. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  24. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — to roll
  2. bat — the animal
  3. pop — to visit
  4. prune — to trim
  5. pop — soda
  6. bat — in an idiom
  7. prune — the fruit
  8. bowl — a dish
  9. prune — to trim
  10. bowl — a football final
  11. plane — in geometry
  12. kid — to tease
  13. kid — child
  14. lie — an untruth
  15. plane — a tool
  16. pit — in a race
  17. pop — music
  18. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  19. pit — a fruit stone
  20. plane — an aircraft
  21. pit — a hole
  22. lie — to recline
  23. lie — an untruth
  24. bat — for baseball

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