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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. He was locked up in a ________________.
  2. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  3. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  4. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  5. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  6. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  7. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  8. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  9. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  10. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  11. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  12. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  13. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  14. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  15. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  16. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  17. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  18. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  19. We're on a ________________ here.
  20. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  21. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  22. False peace will not ________________.
  23. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  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. cell — in a prison
  2. drill — army training
  3. prune — to trim
  4. roll — a list
  5. bore — gave birth
  6. prune — the fruit
  7. shower — a meteor shower
  8. pit — in a race
  9. drill — the tool
  10. cell — a phone
  11. pit — a hole
  12. prune — to trim
  13. shower — to wash
  14. last — finally
  15. bore — to drill
  16. last — final
  17. bore — to tire
  18. pit — a fruit stone
  19. roll — on a roll
  20. roll — a cake
  21. shower — rain
  22. last — to go on
  23. cell — in biology
  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