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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: prune · wound · file · cold · drill · chip · foot · craft

  1. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  2. The water is too ________________.
  3. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  4. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  5. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  6. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  7. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  8. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  9. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  10. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  11. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  12. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  13. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  14. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  15. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  16. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  17. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  18. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  19. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  20. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  21. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  22. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  23. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  24. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.

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

Answer key

  1. foot — part of the body
  2. cold — not warm
  3. chip — to eat
  4. wound — an injury
  5. craft — boats
  6. file — a tool
  7. wound — past of 'wind'
  8. cold — the Cold War
  9. file — a line of people
  10. drill — the tool
  11. drill — a practice
  12. craft — a handicraft
  13. foot — a measure
  14. chip — for betting
  15. file — a document
  16. prune — to trim
  17. chip — in a computer
  18. prune — to trim
  19. prune — the fruit
  20. wound — an injury
  21. craft — a skill
  22. foot — the bottom
  23. drill — army training
  24. cold — an illness

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