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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: drill · scale · tube · roll · prune · net · game · fork

  1. That was a fun ________________.
  2. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  3. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  4. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  5. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  6. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  7. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  8. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  9. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  10. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  11. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  12. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  13. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  14. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  15. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  16. I'll be taking the ________________.
  17. We're on a ________________ here.
  18. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  19. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  20. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  21. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  22. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  23. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  24. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.

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

Answer key

  1. game — a match
  2. roll — a cake
  3. tube — a container
  4. prune — to trim
  5. scale — size or range
  6. net — for catching
  7. fork — in a road
  8. roll — a list
  9. prune — to trim
  10. drill — a practice
  11. prune — the fruit
  12. fork — to eat with
  13. net — after costs
  14. game — wild animals
  15. tube — in a tire
  16. tube — the underground
  17. roll — on a roll
  18. scale — in music
  19. drill — the tool
  20. net — in sport
  21. drill — army training
  22. fork — a garden tool
  23. game — a kind of play
  24. scale — for weighing

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