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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: rash · pop · face · drill · field · mate · prune · band

  1. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  2. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  3. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  4. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  5. You don't need to ________________ round.
  6. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  7. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  8. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  9. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  10. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  11. Have you found your soul ________________?
  12. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  13. Don't do anything ________________.
  14. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  15. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  16. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  17. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  18. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  19. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  20. We're almost out of ________________.
  21. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  22. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  23. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  24. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. mate — to breed
  2. mate — a friend
  3. drill — army training
  4. prune — the fruit
  5. pop — to visit
  6. rash — on the skin
  7. field — farmland
  8. field — a subject
  9. prune — to trim
  10. pop — music
  11. mate — a partner
  12. prune — to trim
  13. rash — hasty
  14. drill — a practice
  15. face — part of the head
  16. band — a ring
  17. band — a rubber band
  18. drill — the tool
  19. face — to point toward
  20. pop — soda
  21. face — to confront
  22. field — for sport
  23. rash — a series
  24. band — a music group

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