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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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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: stem · prune · wind · lash · fork · mark · drill · cold

  1. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  2. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  3. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  4. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  5. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  6. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  7. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  8. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  9. The water is too ________________.
  10. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  11. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  12. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  13. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  14. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  15. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  16. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  17. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  18. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  19. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  20. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  21. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  22. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  23. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  24. She got the top ________________ in the exam.

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

Answer key

  1. drill — the tool
  2. stem — a stem cell
  3. stem — to come from
  4. mark — a trace
  5. prune — to trim
  6. cold — an illness
  7. prune — to trim
  8. fork — a garden tool
  9. cold — not warm
  10. stem — of a plant
  11. lash — a whip stroke
  12. drill — a practice
  13. wind — moving air
  14. cold — the Cold War
  15. drill — army training
  16. lash — to lash out
  17. mark — to pay attention
  18. fork — in a road
  19. wind — moving air
  20. prune — the fruit
  21. lash — an eyelash
  22. fork — to eat with
  23. wind — to turn a key
  24. mark — a grade

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