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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: shower · prune · board · bat · jam · drill · present · stem

  1. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  2. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  3. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  4. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  5. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  6. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  7. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  8. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  9. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  10. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  11. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  12. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  13. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  14. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  15. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  16. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  17. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  18. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  19. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  20. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  21. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  22. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  23. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  24. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — in an idiom
  2. jam — to spread on bread
  3. bat — the animal
  4. present — a gift
  5. present — there
  6. bat — for baseball
  7. stem — to come from
  8. board — a committee
  9. board — a flat piece
  10. prune — to trim
  11. board — to get on
  12. drill — the tool
  13. drill — army training
  14. jam — a tight spot
  15. prune — the fruit
  16. jam — in traffic
  17. shower — a meteor shower
  18. drill — a practice
  19. present — the time now
  20. shower — to wash
  21. shower — rain
  22. stem — a stem cell
  23. stem — of a plant
  24. prune — to trim

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