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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: land · trunk · prune · saw · key · cell · clip · drill

  1. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  2. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  3. When are we going to ________________?
  4. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  5. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  6. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  7. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  8. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  9. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  10. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  11. He was locked up in a ________________.
  12. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  13. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  14. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  15. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  16. He works in a ________________ mill.
  17. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  18. She's very handy with a ________________.
  19. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  20. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  21. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  22. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  23. This piece is in a major ________________.
  24. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. key — the most important part
  2. drill — the tool
  3. land — to come down
  4. prune — to trim
  5. trunk — of an elephant
  6. drill — a practice
  7. clip — to cut
  8. trunk — of a car
  9. land — ground
  10. key — for a lock
  11. cell — in a prison
  12. cell — a phone
  13. cell — in biology
  14. trunk — of a tree
  15. prune — the fruit
  16. saw — the tool
  17. prune — to trim
  18. saw — the tool
  19. drill — army training
  20. clip — for paper
  21. saw — past of 'see'
  22. land — a country
  23. key — in music
  24. clip — a video

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