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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: wound · row · court · pitcher · toast · prune · tube · fall

  1. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  2. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  3. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  4. The ball is in your ________________.
  5. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  6. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  7. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  8. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  9. I'll be taking the ________________.
  10. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  11. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  12. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  13. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  14. He is an ace ________________.
  15. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  16. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  17. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  18. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  19. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  20. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  21. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  22. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  23. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  24. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.

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

Answer key

  1. court — of a king
  2. pitcher — a jug
  3. fall — to drop
  4. court — for sport
  5. row — a quarrel
  6. prune — the fruit
  7. fall — the season
  8. court — of law
  9. tube — the underground
  10. toast — the most admired
  11. wound — past of 'wind'
  12. pitcher — a jug
  13. prune — to trim
  14. pitcher — in baseball
  15. tube — a container
  16. fall — to drop
  17. row — to paddle
  18. wound — an injury
  19. wound — an injury
  20. toast — bread
  21. row — a line
  22. tube — in a tire
  23. toast — a drink to someone
  24. prune — to trim

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