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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 120 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: drill · wave · arm · prune · trunk · cold · shower · rest

  1. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  2. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  3. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  4. The water is too ________________.
  5. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  6. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  7. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  8. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  9. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  10. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  11. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  12. My father caught me by the ________________.
  13. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  14. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  15. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  16. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  17. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  18. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  19. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  20. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  21. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  22. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  23. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  24. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.

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

Answer key

  1. drill — a practice
  2. prune — the fruit
  3. drill — army training
  4. cold — not warm
  5. wave — with your hand
  6. arm — part of the body
  7. prune — to trim
  8. arm — a part of something
  9. wave — a sudden rise
  10. shower — a meteor shower
  11. drill — the tool
  12. arm — part of the body
  13. cold — the Cold War
  14. wave — of the sea
  15. shower — rain
  16. trunk — of a car
  17. shower — to wash
  18. cold — an illness
  19. trunk — of an elephant
  20. rest — what's left
  21. rest — a break
  22. rest — what's left
  23. trunk — of a tree
  24. prune — to trim

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