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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 120 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: kid · court · trunk · cold · hide · net · prune · bowl

  1. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  2. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  3. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  4. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  5. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  6. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  7. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  8. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  9. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  10. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  11. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  12. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  13. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  14. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  15. The water is too ________________.
  16. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  17. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  18. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  19. The ball is in your ________________.
  20. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  21. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  22. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  23. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  24. I've got the luggage in my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. net — for catching
  2. kid — child
  3. hide — animal skin
  4. court — of law
  5. trunk — of a tree
  6. prune — the fruit
  7. net — in sport
  8. prune — to trim
  9. hide — to keep secret
  10. hide — to keep secret
  11. bowl — a dish
  12. court — of a king
  13. cold — the Cold War
  14. prune — to trim
  15. cold — not warm
  16. trunk — of an elephant
  17. kid — to tease
  18. bowl — a football final
  19. court — for sport
  20. bowl — to roll
  21. cold — an illness
  22. net — after costs
  23. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  24. trunk — of a car

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