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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: march · ball · drill · bore · prune · last · pass · fall

  1. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  2. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  3. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  4. False peace will not ________________.
  5. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  6. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  7. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  8. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  9. The King held a masked ________________.
  10. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  11. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  12. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  13. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  14. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  15. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  16. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  17. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  18. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  19. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  20. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  21. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  22. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  23. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  24. A ________________ is just a dried plum.

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

Answer key

  1. pass — to succeed
  2. prune — to trim
  3. fall — to drop
  4. last — to go on
  5. bore — to drill
  6. last — final
  7. fall — to drop
  8. last — finally
  9. ball — a dance
  10. bore — to tire
  11. drill — army training
  12. bore — gave birth
  13. ball — a round shape
  14. march — music
  15. pass — a permit
  16. ball — a great time
  17. march — the month
  18. drill — the tool
  19. fall — the season
  20. pass — to spend time
  21. prune — to trim
  22. drill — a practice
  23. march — the month
  24. prune — the fruit

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