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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: chip · ball · key · bowl · cold · bore · spell · prune

  1. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  2. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  3. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  4. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  5. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  6. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. This piece is in a major ________________.
  9. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  10. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  11. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  12. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  13. The King held a masked ________________.
  14. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  15. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  16. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  17. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  18. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  19. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  20. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  21. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  22. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  23. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  24. How do you ________________ your surname?

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

Answer key

  1. bore — gave birth
  2. ball — a great time
  3. prune — to trim
  4. prune — to trim
  5. bowl — a dish
  6. key — for a lock
  7. cold — not warm
  8. key — in music
  9. bore — to drill
  10. spell — magic
  11. chip — in a computer
  12. spell — a short time
  13. ball — a dance
  14. bore — to tire
  15. bowl — a football final
  16. key — the most important part
  17. ball — a round shape
  18. cold — an illness
  19. prune — the fruit
  20. bowl — to roll
  21. chip — to eat
  22. cold — the Cold War
  23. chip — for betting
  24. spell — letters

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