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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. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  2. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  3. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  4. Have you settled on a ________________?
  5. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  6. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  7. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  8. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  9. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  10. I'll be taking the ________________.
  11. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  12. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  13. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  14. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  15. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  16. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  17. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  18. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  19. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  20. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  21. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  22. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  23. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  24. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.

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

Answer key

  1. wound — an injury
  2. drill — a practice
  3. prune — to trim
  4. date — on the calendar
  5. tube — in a tire
  6. kick — with a leg
  7. prune — the fruit
  8. date — the fruit
  9. drill — the tool
  10. tube — the underground
  11. drill — army training
  12. bass — the fish
  13. tube — a container
  14. kick — a thrill
  15. kick — in football
  16. wound — an injury
  17. bass — low music
  18. date — on the calendar
  19. bass — the instrument
  20. prune — to trim
  21. wound — past of 'wind'
  22. wind — to turn a key
  23. wind — moving air
  24. wind — moving air

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