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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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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 · drill · field · bound · hide · shower · straw · court

  1. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  2. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  3. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  4. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  5. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  6. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  7. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  8. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  9. The ball is in your ________________.
  10. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  11. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  12. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  13. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  14. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  15. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  16. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  17. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  18. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  19. That was ________________ to happen.
  20. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  21. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  22. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  23. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  24. He's taking a ________________ right now.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — a meteor shower
  2. shower — rain
  3. bound — obliged
  4. field — for sport
  5. prune — the fruit
  6. hide — to keep secret
  7. drill — a practice
  8. court — of a king
  9. court — for sport
  10. prune — to trim
  11. straw — to clutch at straws
  12. drill — army training
  13. field — a subject
  14. hide — animal skin
  15. court — of law
  16. drill — the tool
  17. hide — to keep secret
  18. straw — dry grass
  19. bound — certain
  20. field — farmland
  21. prune — to trim
  22. bound — tied together
  23. straw — a straw man
  24. shower — to wash

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