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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: hand · drill · date · wound · lash · prune · court · bass

  1. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  2. The ball is in your ________________.
  3. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  4. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  5. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  6. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  7. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  8. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  9. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  10. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  11. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  12. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  13. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  14. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  15. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  16. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  17. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  18. Have you settled on a ________________?
  19. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  20. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  21. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  22. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  23. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  24. We ________________ up on opposing sides.

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

Answer key

  1. prune — to trim
  2. court — for sport
  3. prune — the fruit
  4. lash — an eyelash
  5. hand — in cards
  6. drill — the tool
  7. drill — a practice
  8. bass — the fish
  9. drill — army training
  10. date — on the calendar
  11. hand — part of the body
  12. hand — help
  13. lash — to lash out
  14. bass — low music
  15. wound — an injury
  16. court — of a king
  17. date — the fruit
  18. date — on the calendar
  19. court — of law
  20. wound — an injury
  21. bass — the instrument
  22. prune — to trim
  23. lash — a whip stroke
  24. wound — past of 'wind'

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