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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: drill · root · land · game · prune · swing · band · straw

  1. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  2. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  3. That was a fun ________________.
  4. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  5. When are we going to ________________?
  6. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  7. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  8. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  9. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  10. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  11. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  12. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  13. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  14. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  15. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  16. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  17. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  18. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  19. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  20. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  21. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  22. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  23. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  24. David sat on the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. land — a country
  2. straw — to clutch at straws
  3. game — a match
  4. root — of a word
  5. land — to come down
  6. root — of a plant
  7. game — wild animals
  8. swing — music
  9. prune — to trim
  10. prune — to trim
  11. straw — a straw man
  12. root — the cause
  13. drill — the tool
  14. band — a music group
  15. land — ground
  16. band — a ring
  17. drill — army training
  18. prune — the fruit
  19. swing — in golf
  20. game — a kind of play
  21. straw — dry grass
  22. drill — a practice
  23. band — a rubber band
  24. swing — to play on

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