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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 need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  2. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  3. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  4. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  5. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  6. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  7. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  8. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  9. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  10. Did you ________________ the meat?
  11. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  12. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  13. What do you think of the new ________________?
  14. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  15. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  16. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  17. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  18. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  19. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  20. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  21. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  22. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  23. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  24. We had a fire ________________ at school today.

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

Answer key

  1. drill — the tool
  2. prune — to trim
  3. prune — the fruit
  4. season — of the year
  5. march — the month
  6. march — the month
  7. bat — for baseball
  8. file — a document
  9. bat — the animal
  10. season — to add flavour
  11. file — a tool
  12. drill — army training
  13. cabinet — ministers
  14. bark — a dog's sound
  15. cabinet — ministers
  16. cabinet — a cupboard
  17. file — a line of people
  18. bark — of a tree
  19. bat — in an idiom
  20. season — in sport
  21. prune — to trim
  22. march — music
  23. bark — to shout
  24. drill — a practice

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