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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 · clip · bear · pitcher · prune · band · mine · jam

  1. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  2. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  3. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  4. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  5. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  6. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  7. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  8. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  9. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  10. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  11. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  12. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  13. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  14. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  15. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  16. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  17. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  18. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  19. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  20. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  21. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  22. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  23. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  24. He is an ace ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — an explosive
  2. band — a ring
  3. mine — for digging
  4. jam — in traffic
  5. clip — to cut
  6. prune — the fruit
  7. clip — a video
  8. band — a music group
  9. drill — a practice
  10. drill — the tool
  11. jam — a tight spot
  12. mine — belonging to me
  13. bear — to put up with
  14. prune — to trim
  15. clip — for paper
  16. band — a rubber band
  17. jam — to spread on bread
  18. pitcher — a jug
  19. bear — the animal
  20. drill — army training
  21. prune — to trim
  22. bear — the animal
  23. pitcher — a jug
  24. pitcher — in baseball

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