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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: cold · drill · band · deal · jam · patient · bark · prune

  1. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  2. The water is too ________________.
  3. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  4. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  5. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  6. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  7. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  8. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  9. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  10. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  11. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  12. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  13. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  14. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  15. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  16. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  17. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  18. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  19. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  20. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  21. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  22. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  23. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  24. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.

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

Answer key

  1. prune — to trim
  2. cold — not warm
  3. bark — of a tree
  4. jam — to spread on bread
  5. band — a music group
  6. jam — in traffic
  7. band — a ring
  8. band — a rubber band
  9. deal — to handle
  10. patient — a sick person
  11. deal — an agreement
  12. drill — a practice
  13. patient — calm and waiting
  14. deal — a big deal
  15. patient — a sick person
  16. bark — a dog's sound
  17. prune — to trim
  18. cold — the Cold War
  19. prune — the fruit
  20. cold — an illness
  21. drill — the tool
  22. drill — army training
  23. jam — a tight spot
  24. bark — to shout

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