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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 120 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: club · prune · mine · dip · rule · tear · band · bore

  1. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  2. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  3. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  4. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  5. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  6. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  7. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  8. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  9. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  10. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  11. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  12. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  13. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  14. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  15. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  16. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  17. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  18. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  19. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  20. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  21. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  22. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  23. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  24. A ________________ is just a dried plum.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — from crying
  2. dip — to dunk
  3. bore — to drill
  4. band — a ring
  5. rule — government
  6. band — a music group
  7. mine — belonging to me
  8. tear — from crying
  9. rule — a law
  10. bore — to tire
  11. tear — to rip
  12. prune — to trim
  13. dip — a sauce
  14. mine — an explosive
  15. bore — gave birth
  16. rule — to rule out
  17. band — a rubber band
  18. club — for golf
  19. club — a group
  20. club — for dancing
  21. dip — to sink
  22. prune — to trim
  23. mine — for digging
  24. prune — the fruit

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