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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.

Words on the sheet
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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 · last · rash · drill · land · pit · wind · date

  1. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  2. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  3. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  4. False peace will not ________________.
  5. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  6. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  7. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  8. Don't do anything ________________.
  9. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  10. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  11. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  12. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  13. When are we going to ________________?
  14. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  15. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  16. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  17. Have you settled on a ________________?
  18. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  19. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  20. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  21. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  22. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  23. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  24. We had a fire ________________ at school today.

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

Answer key

  1. wind — moving air
  2. wind — to turn a key
  3. prune — the fruit
  4. last — to go on
  5. rash — on the skin
  6. prune — to trim
  7. prune — to trim
  8. rash — hasty
  9. last — final
  10. drill — army training
  11. wind — moving air
  12. last — finally
  13. land — to come down
  14. rash — a series
  15. pit — a hole
  16. date — on the calendar
  17. date — on the calendar
  18. pit — in a race
  19. land — a country
  20. pit — a fruit stone
  21. date — the fruit
  22. drill — the tool
  23. land — ground
  24. drill — a practice

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