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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: date · wave · prune · craft · hand · drill · tear · field

  1. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  2. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  3. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  4. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  5. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  6. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  7. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  8. Have you settled on a ________________?
  9. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  10. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  11. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  12. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  13. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  14. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  15. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  16. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  17. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  18. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  19. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  20. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  21. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  22. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  23. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  24. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — from crying
  2. tear — to rip
  3. hand — in cards
  4. drill — army training
  5. wave — of the sea
  6. field — a subject
  7. drill — the tool
  8. date — on the calendar
  9. wave — with your hand
  10. prune — to trim
  11. wave — a sudden rise
  12. craft — boats
  13. prune — the fruit
  14. craft — a skill
  15. field — for sport
  16. craft — a handicraft
  17. tear — from crying
  18. drill — a practice
  19. date — on the calendar
  20. prune — to trim
  21. field — farmland
  22. date — the fruit
  23. hand — help
  24. hand — part of the body

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