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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: mine · drill · rule · field · court · prune · kick · fall

  1. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  2. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  3. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  4. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  5. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  6. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  7. The ball is in your ________________.
  8. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  9. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  10. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  11. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  12. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  13. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  14. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  15. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  16. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  17. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  18. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  19. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  20. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  21. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  22. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  23. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  24. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.

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

Answer key

  1. field — farmland
  2. court — of law
  3. drill — the tool
  4. mine — belonging to me
  5. drill — army training
  6. kick — in football
  7. court — for sport
  8. prune — to trim
  9. kick — a thrill
  10. fall — to drop
  11. prune — to trim
  12. field — a subject
  13. rule — to rule out
  14. drill — a practice
  15. rule — a law
  16. fall — to drop
  17. prune — the fruit
  18. fall — the season
  19. field — for sport
  20. mine — an explosive
  21. mine — for digging
  22. court — of a king
  23. rule — government
  24. kick — with a leg

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