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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: prune · pit · chest · field · drill · lash · fan · wound

  1. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  2. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  3. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  4. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  5. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  6. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  7. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  8. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  9. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  10. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  11. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  12. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  13. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  14. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  15. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  16. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  17. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  18. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  19. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  20. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  21. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  22. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  23. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  24. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.

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

Answer key

  1. lash — to lash out
  2. wound — past of 'wind'
  3. chest — of your body
  4. wound — an injury
  5. field — farmland
  6. wound — an injury
  7. fan — a supporter
  8. field — for sport
  9. lash — a whip stroke
  10. pit — a fruit stone
  11. drill — army training
  12. chest — of your body
  13. fan — a supporter
  14. prune — the fruit
  15. pit — a hole
  16. pit — in a race
  17. prune — to trim
  18. drill — a practice
  19. chest — a box
  20. fan — to cool the air
  21. drill — the tool
  22. lash — an eyelash
  23. prune — to trim
  24. field — a subject

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