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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. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  2. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  3. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  4. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  5. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  6. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  7. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  8. That must've been a ________________.
  9. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  10. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  11. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  12. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  13. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  14. I'll be taking the ________________.
  15. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  16. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  17. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  18. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  19. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  20. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  21. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  22. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  23. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  24. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.

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

Answer key

  1. prune — to trim
  2. drill — army training
  3. prune — the fruit
  4. rush — hurry
  5. row — to paddle
  6. hand — part of the body
  7. drill — a practice
  8. rush — a thrill
  9. row — a line
  10. cap — a hat
  11. tube — a container
  12. drill — the tool
  13. march — the month
  14. tube — the underground
  15. prune — to trim
  16. cap — of ice
  17. hand — in cards
  18. rush — to hurry
  19. cap — a lid
  20. hand — help
  21. tube — in a tire
  22. march — the month
  23. row — a quarrel
  24. march — music

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