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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. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  3. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  4. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  5. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  6. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  7. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  8. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  9. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  10. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  11. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  12. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  13. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  14. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  15. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  16. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  17. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  18. David sat on the ________________.
  19. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  20. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  21. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  22. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  23. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  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. prune — to trim
  2. bowl — to roll
  3. swing — in golf
  4. bowl — a dish
  5. bowl — a football final
  6. tear — from crying
  7. face — to point toward
  8. straw — dry grass
  9. prune — to trim
  10. straw — to clutch at straws
  11. tear — from crying
  12. drill — army training
  13. face — to confront
  14. drill — the tool
  15. straw — a straw man
  16. tear — to rip
  17. face — part of the head
  18. swing — to play on
  19. swing — music
  20. bore — to drill
  21. bore — to tire
  22. prune — the fruit
  23. bore — gave birth
  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