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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: fork · patient · mug · land · drill · chest · prune · mine

  1. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  2. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  3. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  4. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  5. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  6. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  7. When are we going to ________________?
  8. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  9. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  10. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  11. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  12. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  13. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  14. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  15. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  16. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  17. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  18. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  19. Where did you ________________ them?
  20. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  21. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  22. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  23. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  24. He was blown up by a land ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. patient — calm and waiting
  2. chest — of your body
  3. drill — a practice
  4. drill — the tool
  5. land — ground
  6. patient — a sick person
  7. land — to come down
  8. chest — of your body
  9. prune — to trim
  10. prune — to trim
  11. mug — a face
  12. mug — a cup
  13. chest — a box
  14. patient — a sick person
  15. mine — for digging
  16. fork — in a road
  17. prune — the fruit
  18. mine — belonging to me
  19. mug — to rob
  20. fork — a garden tool
  21. land — a country
  22. fork — to eat with
  23. drill — army training
  24. mine — an explosive

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