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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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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: march · drill · bass · swing · prune · rule · field · press

  1. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  2. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  3. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  4. David sat on the ________________.
  5. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  6. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  7. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  8. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  9. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  10. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  11. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  12. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  13. Did you ________________ the button?
  14. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  15. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  16. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  17. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  18. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  19. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  20. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  21. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  22. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  23. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  24. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.

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

Answer key

  1. field — farmland
  2. press — a publisher
  3. prune — to trim
  4. swing — to play on
  5. swing — in golf
  6. prune — the fruit
  7. rule — government
  8. rule — a law
  9. drill — army training
  10. rule — to rule out
  11. prune — to trim
  12. field — for sport
  13. press — to push
  14. march — the month
  15. bass — the instrument
  16. field — a subject
  17. bass — the fish
  18. march — the month
  19. march — music
  20. drill — the tool
  21. press — newspapers
  22. drill — a practice
  23. swing — music
  24. bass — low music

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