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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 116 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 · bore · swing · straw · drill · lie · land · rest

  1. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  2. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  3. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  4. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  5. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  6. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  7. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  8. When are we going to ________________?
  9. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  10. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  11. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  12. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  13. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  14. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  15. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  16. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  17. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  18. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  19. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  20. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  21. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  22. David sat on the ________________.
  23. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  24. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. straw — dry grass
  2. lie — an untruth
  3. bore — to drill
  4. swing — in golf
  5. land — a country
  6. rest — what's left
  7. rest — what's left
  8. land — to come down
  9. prune — the fruit
  10. lie — to recline
  11. bore — gave birth
  12. drill — a practice
  13. lie — an untruth
  14. drill — army training
  15. prune — to trim
  16. rest — a break
  17. prune — to trim
  18. straw — a straw man
  19. bore — to tire
  20. land — ground
  21. drill — the tool
  22. swing — to play on
  23. swing — music
  24. straw — to clutch at straws

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