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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. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  2. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  3. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  4. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  5. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  6. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  7. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  8. Did you ________________ the meat?
  9. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  10. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  11. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  12. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  13. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  14. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  15. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  16. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  17. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  18. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  19. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  20. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  21. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  22. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  23. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  24. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.

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

Answer key

  1. rest — a break
  2. prune — the fruit
  3. drill — a practice
  4. season — in sport
  5. drill — army training
  6. rest — what's left
  7. fork — in a road
  8. season — to add flavour
  9. band — a music group
  10. band — a ring
  11. prune — to trim
  12. field — farmland
  13. prune — to trim
  14. straw — a straw man
  15. fork — a garden tool
  16. band — a rubber band
  17. straw — to clutch at straws
  18. straw — dry grass
  19. fork — to eat with
  20. field — a subject
  21. season — of the year
  22. field — for sport
  23. drill — the tool
  24. rest — what's left

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