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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 116 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: shower · coach · prune · bat · saw · kid · degree · bore

  1. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  2. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  3. He works in a ________________ mill.
  4. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  5. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  6. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  7. She's very handy with a ________________.
  8. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  9. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  10. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  11. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  12. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  13. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  14. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  15. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  16. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  17. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  18. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  19. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  20. Have you met the new head ________________?
  21. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  22. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  23. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  24. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?

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

Answer key

  1. prune — to trim
  2. bore — to tire
  3. saw — the tool
  4. kid — to tease
  5. bat — the animal
  6. shower — to wash
  7. saw — the tool
  8. kid — child
  9. degree — from a university
  10. bat — in an idiom
  11. bore — to drill
  12. coach — a trainer
  13. bat — for baseball
  14. coach — pulled by horses
  15. shower — rain
  16. saw — past of 'see'
  17. prune — to trim
  18. degree — temperature
  19. shower — a meteor shower
  20. coach — a trainer
  21. bore — gave birth
  22. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  23. prune — the fruit
  24. degree — an amount

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