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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: ground · game · pit · leaves · tube · hand · perch · prune

  1. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  2. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  3. I'll be taking the ________________.
  4. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  5. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  6. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  7. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  8. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  9. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  10. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  11. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  12. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  13. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  14. There's no middle ________________.
  15. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  16. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  17. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  18. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  19. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  20. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  21. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  22. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  23. That was a fun ________________.
  24. The ________________ change colour in autumn.

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

Answer key

  1. game — a kind of play
  2. perch — the fish
  3. tube — the underground
  4. prune — to trim
  5. hand — in cards
  6. tube — a container
  7. prune — to trim
  8. perch — for a bird
  9. pit — in a race
  10. perch — for a bird
  11. ground — crushed
  12. tube — in a tire
  13. pit — a fruit stone
  14. ground — a position
  15. hand — help
  16. game — wild animals
  17. pit — a hole
  18. leaves — lets stay
  19. prune — the fruit
  20. hand — part of the body
  21. ground — the earth
  22. leaves — to go away
  23. game — a match
  24. leaves — of a tree

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