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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: nail · drill · press · last · spring · prune · mine · safe

  1. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  2. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  3. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  4. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  5. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  6. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  7. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  8. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  9. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  10. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  11. False peace will not ________________.
  12. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  13. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  14. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  15. The ________________ went through the wall.
  16. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  17. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  18. Did you ________________ the button?
  19. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  20. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  21. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  22. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  23. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  24. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.

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

Answer key

  1. safe — out of danger
  2. mine — for digging
  3. nail — for a hammer
  4. last — final
  5. last — finally
  6. spring — a coil
  7. safe — a strongbox
  8. drill — a practice
  9. press — a publisher
  10. spring — the season
  11. last — to go on
  12. mine — an explosive
  13. drill — army training
  14. mine — belonging to me
  15. nail — for a hammer
  16. safe — out of danger
  17. prune — to trim
  18. press — to push
  19. prune — the fruit
  20. prune — to trim
  21. spring — of water
  22. press — newspapers
  23. drill — the tool
  24. nail — on a finger

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