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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 116 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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Word bank
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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: prune · bass · drill · wake · content · bound

  1. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  2. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  3. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  4. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  5. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  6. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  7. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  8. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  9. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  10. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  11. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  12. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  13. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  14. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  15. That was ________________ to happen.
  16. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  17. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  18. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.

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

Answer key

  1. prune — to trim
  2. bass — low music
  3. wake — to stop sleeping
  4. bass — the instrument
  5. prune — to trim
  6. prune — the fruit
  7. content — happy
  8. bound — obliged
  9. content — videos and posts
  10. bound — tied together
  11. wake — before a funeral
  12. drill — a practice
  13. drill — the tool
  14. content — the amount
  15. bound — certain
  16. bass — the fish
  17. wake — a trail
  18. drill — army training

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