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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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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: pit · snap · kid · prune · plane · stock · drill · court

  1. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  2. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  3. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  4. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  5. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  6. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  7. The ball is in your ________________.
  8. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  9. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  10. The ________________ market has crashed.
  11. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  12. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  13. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  14. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  15. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  16. The ________________ took off on time.
  17. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  18. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  19. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  20. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  21. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  22. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  23. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  24. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  2. stock — goods
  3. snap — to speak sharply
  4. court — of a king
  5. prune — to trim
  6. prune — the fruit
  7. court — for sport
  8. snap — to click
  9. plane — in geometry
  10. stock — shares
  11. plane — a tool
  12. prune — to trim
  13. drill — a practice
  14. pit — a hole
  15. stock — a soup base
  16. plane — an aircraft
  17. kid — child
  18. pit — a fruit stone
  19. pit — in a race
  20. drill — army training
  21. court — of law
  22. kid — to tease
  23. snap — to snap out of it
  24. drill — the tool

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