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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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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: court · prune · mine · rash · scale · land · vault · can

  1. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  2. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  3. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  4. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  5. When are we going to ________________?
  6. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  7. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  8. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  9. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  10. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  11. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  12. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  13. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  14. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  15. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  16. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  17. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  18. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  19. Don't do anything ________________.
  20. The ball is in your ________________.
  21. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  22. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  23. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  24. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.

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

Answer key

  1. prune — to trim
  2. can — to be able to
  3. land — ground
  4. scale — size or range
  5. land — to come down
  6. mine — for digging
  7. prune — the fruit
  8. mine — belonging to me
  9. vault — in gymnastics
  10. court — of a king
  11. vault — a safe
  12. court — of law
  13. rash — a series
  14. mine — an explosive
  15. prune — to trim
  16. can — a tin
  17. can — a tin
  18. scale — in music
  19. rash — hasty
  20. court — for sport
  21. scale — for weighing
  22. land — a country
  23. rash — on the skin
  24. vault — an arched ceiling

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