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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 120 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: fall · kid · fan · ground · cold · bore · prune · ruler

  1. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  2. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  3. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  4. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  5. The water is too ________________.
  6. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  7. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  8. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  9. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  10. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  11. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  12. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  13. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  14. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  15. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  16. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  17. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  18. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  19. There's no middle ________________.
  20. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  21. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  22. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  23. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  24. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  2. fan — a supporter
  3. fan — to cool the air
  4. cold — an illness
  5. cold — not warm
  6. bore — to tire
  7. bore — gave birth
  8. prune — to trim
  9. prune — the fruit
  10. ruler — a monarch
  11. ruler — for measuring
  12. fall — to drop
  13. ground — the earth
  14. fan — a supporter
  15. prune — to trim
  16. fall — the season
  17. kid — child
  18. bore — to drill
  19. ground — a position
  20. cold — the Cold War
  21. ruler — for measuring
  22. kid — to tease
  23. ground — crushed
  24. fall — to drop

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