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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: race · court · prune · perch · mug · bore · net · hand

  1. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  2. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  3. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  4. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  5. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  6. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  7. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  8. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  9. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  10. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  11. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  12. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  13. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  14. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  15. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  16. Where did you ________________ them?
  17. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  18. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  19. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  20. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  21. The ball is in your ________________.
  22. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  23. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  24. A ________________ is just a dried plum.

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

Answer key

  1. race — a contest
  2. perch — for a bird
  3. mug — a face
  4. race — the arms race
  5. court — of a king
  6. bore — gave birth
  7. bore — to tire
  8. mug — a cup
  9. prune — to trim
  10. hand — help
  11. prune — to trim
  12. hand — part of the body
  13. bore — to drill
  14. hand — in cards
  15. perch — the fish
  16. mug — to rob
  17. race — humankind
  18. court — of law
  19. net — after costs
  20. perch — for a bird
  21. court — for sport
  22. net — in sport
  23. net — for catching
  24. prune — the fruit

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