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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 in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  2. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  3. False peace will not ________________.
  4. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  5. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  6. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  7. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  8. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  9. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  10. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  11. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  12. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  13. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  14. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  15. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  16. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  17. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  18. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.

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

Answer key

  1. prune — the fruit
  2. drill — army training
  3. last — to go on
  4. wind — moving air
  5. band — a ring
  6. drill — the tool
  7. file — a document
  8. wind — to turn a key
  9. file — a tool
  10. drill — a practice
  11. band — a rubber band
  12. last — final
  13. prune — to trim
  14. band — a music group
  15. wind — moving air
  16. last — finally
  17. file — a line of people
  18. prune — to trim

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