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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: vault · bore · prune · clip · game · tear · march · tube

  1. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  2. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  3. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  4. I'll be taking the ________________.
  5. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  6. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  7. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  8. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  9. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  10. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  11. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  12. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  13. That was a fun ________________.
  14. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  15. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  16. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  17. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  18. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  19. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  20. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  21. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  22. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  23. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  24. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. march — the month
  2. tear — from crying
  3. march — the month
  4. tube — the underground
  5. vault — an arched ceiling
  6. tear — from crying
  7. prune — to trim
  8. vault — in gymnastics
  9. prune — to trim
  10. tear — to rip
  11. tube — in a tire
  12. march — music
  13. game — a match
  14. prune — the fruit
  15. game — a kind of play
  16. bore — to drill
  17. clip — for paper
  18. tube — a container
  19. vault — a safe
  20. bore — gave birth
  21. clip — to cut
  22. bore — to tire
  23. clip — a video
  24. game — wild animals

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