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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 · drill · track · game · chair · present · saw · swing

  1. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  2. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  3. David sat on the ________________.
  4. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  5. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  6. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  7. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  8. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  9. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  10. That was a fun ________________.
  11. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  12. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  13. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  14. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  15. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  16. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  17. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  18. He works in a ________________ mill.
  19. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  20. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  21. She's very handy with a ________________.
  22. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  23. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  24. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?

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

Answer key

  1. chair — a professorship
  2. track — to keep track
  3. swing — to play on
  4. prune — the fruit
  5. prune — to trim
  6. prune — to trim
  7. drill — army training
  8. swing — in golf
  9. game — wild animals
  10. game — a match
  11. present — the time now
  12. drill — a practice
  13. track — a song
  14. drill — the tool
  15. saw — past of 'see'
  16. track — a path
  17. chair — a leader
  18. saw — the tool
  19. game — a kind of play
  20. present — there
  21. saw — the tool
  22. swing — music
  23. chair — to sit on
  24. present — a gift

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