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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 · wake · bulb · tear · chest · march · net · swing

  1. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  2. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  3. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  4. The light ________________ burned out.
  5. I've got to change the light ________________.
  6. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  7. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  8. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  9. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  10. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  11. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  12. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  13. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  14. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  15. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  16. David sat on the ________________.
  17. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  18. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  19. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  20. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  21. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  22. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  23. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  24. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.

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

Answer key

  1. march — music
  2. swing — music
  3. net — after costs
  4. bulb — for light
  5. bulb — for light
  6. bulb — of a plant
  7. tear — from crying
  8. prune — the fruit
  9. tear — to rip
  10. prune — to trim
  11. net — in sport
  12. chest — of your body
  13. wake — to stop sleeping
  14. chest — a box
  15. march — the month
  16. swing — to play on
  17. tear — from crying
  18. swing — in golf
  19. chest — of your body
  20. net — for catching
  21. prune — to trim
  22. march — the month
  23. wake — a trail
  24. wake — before a funeral

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