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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: rule · kick · rash · prune · deal · drill · spring · pit

  1. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  2. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  3. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  4. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  5. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  6. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  7. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  8. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  9. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  10. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  11. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  12. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  13. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  14. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  15. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  16. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  17. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  18. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  19. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  20. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  21. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  22. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  23. Don't do anything ________________.
  24. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.

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

Answer key

  1. deal — an agreement
  2. pit — a fruit stone
  3. kick — a thrill
  4. drill — army training
  5. rash — on the skin
  6. drill — a practice
  7. drill — the tool
  8. spring — a coil
  9. kick — with a leg
  10. deal — to handle
  11. rule — a law
  12. kick — in football
  13. rule — government
  14. deal — a big deal
  15. pit — a hole
  16. prune — to trim
  17. prune — to trim
  18. spring — the season
  19. pit — in a race
  20. spring — of water
  21. rash — a series
  22. prune — the fruit
  23. rash — hasty
  24. rule — to rule out

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