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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: court · row · cap · net · pitcher · hand · prune · ruler

  1. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  2. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  3. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  4. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  5. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  6. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  7. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  8. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  9. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  10. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  11. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  12. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  13. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  14. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  15. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  16. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  17. The ball is in your ________________.
  18. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  19. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  20. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  21. He is an ace ________________.
  22. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  23. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  24. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — in cards
  2. row — a quarrel
  3. court — of a king
  4. ruler — for measuring
  5. net — for catching
  6. cap — a hat
  7. net — after costs
  8. pitcher — a jug
  9. row — a line
  10. ruler — for measuring
  11. pitcher — a jug
  12. hand — help
  13. prune — the fruit
  14. ruler — a monarch
  15. court — of law
  16. hand — part of the body
  17. court — for sport
  18. cap — of ice
  19. net — in sport
  20. prune — to trim
  21. pitcher — in baseball
  22. prune — to trim
  23. cap — a lid
  24. row — to paddle

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