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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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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: tube · drill · march · prune · bear · bat · patient · bound

  1. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  2. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  3. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  4. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  5. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  6. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  7. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  8. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  9. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  10. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  11. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  12. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  13. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  14. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  15. I'll be taking the ________________.
  16. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  17. That was ________________ to happen.
  18. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  19. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  20. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  21. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  22. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  23. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  24. A black ________________ roamed the forest.

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

Answer key

  1. prune — to trim
  2. bear — to put up with
  3. tube — in a tire
  4. drill — a practice
  5. patient — a sick person
  6. march — the month
  7. tube — a container
  8. patient — a sick person
  9. patient — calm and waiting
  10. march — the month
  11. bat — in an idiom
  12. bat — for baseball
  13. bat — the animal
  14. prune — to trim
  15. tube — the underground
  16. bound — tied together
  17. bound — certain
  18. march — music
  19. drill — army training
  20. bear — the animal
  21. bound — obliged
  22. drill — the tool
  23. prune — the fruit
  24. bear — the animal

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